Music

Slipknot's Corey Taylor still feels bad for his pre-sobriety behaviour

by Richard Howard

Slipknot/Stone Sour vocalist Corey Taylor has been pretty open about his struggles with alcoholism and depression over the years. Everything came to a head with a 2003 suicide attempt that, he says, forced him to look at his life and make some serious changes. He quit drinking and, in one of the sunnier stories of a rock star with addiction problems, was able to turn things around.

One way Taylor seems to keep on the straight and narrow is constantly reminding himself what a (self-described) royal d-bag he was when drinking and in his addiction’s immediate aftermath. A couple years into his sobriety he told MTV: “I would disappear for long periods with no regard for my own safety or anyone else’s. I didn’t care about myself, my family, anything. I’d just remember being at a bar, and then all of a sudden — nothing,” When he first gave up the bottle, he says “I pushed my wife away for a while and was a really selfish, cold d—.”

In a recent episode of the Spotify Metal Talks podcast, while delving deep into his life and career, Taylor revealed that he’s still dealing with the repercussions of that time and the guilt that goes along with it. “It was about, basically, repairing bridges and dedicating yourself to being a better person… It takes time for people to get used to that, it takes time for people to treat you that way,” he said. “It took 10 years. And, luckily now, I’m kind of starting to feel the good part of that. But I’d done a lot of damage to a lot of people, and I’m still trying to make up for it.”

[H/T Blabbermouth]