Korn III – Remember Who You Are is the upcoming ninth studio album by American metal band Korn, which is set for release on July 13, 2010. The band hired Ross Robinson, who produced their first two albums to again act as producer, and drummer Ray Luzier to act as permanent drummer, instead of a live fill-in as he had been previously. The album is being recorded as a four-piece band, using no Pro Tools or editing, unlike Korn's more recent albums. Vocalist Jonathan Davis says the album will be "simple" in that it won't be as multi-layered as Korn's recent albums, but "it's about the vibe".

Recording process

Background and pre-production

After releasing their untitled eighth album in July 2007 through their two record deal with Virgin Records, KoЯn took a ten-month hiatus so that the members could focus on different projects. Guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer started the recording of his side-project Fear and the Nervous System's debut album. In July Shaffer reported on the band's MySpace page that the album would not be released August 8, 2008 as previously mentioned. Bass guitarist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu recorded guitars for the as of yet unreleased StillWell debut album Surrounded by Liars. Vocalist Jonathan Davis recorded his first solo album along with his back-up band the SFA's who also backed Davis on his Alone I Play-tour.

When getting back into the studio for the recording of the band's ninth studio album, Korn hired Ross Robinson, whom the band had previously worked with for the recording of their first two albums, Korn and Life Is Peachy, to act as producer. They also hired drummer Ray Luzier, whom they had previously toured with, to replace former drummer David Silveria permanently. This will be Luzier's first appearance on a Korn album. During this time the band was unsigned and funded the recording of the album and the Escape From the Studio Tour themselves. In the early stages of production, Luzier, Arvizu, and Shaffer wrote material for the album in Arvizu's garage. During this time, Davis has purposely kept himself away from hearing the band's new material, saying that after the band has arranged the songs along with Robinson he will start working on the actual lyrics. The band reported that they wrote about fifteen or sixteen tracks of original material during this time. According to Arvizu, the band had plans to play some new material on the tour but decided to abandon the idea due to the plethora of material that has been coming out during the band recording sessions.

Production and recording sessions

After the conclusion of the band's Escape From the Studio Tour in late 2009 the band returned to the studio with Robinson to begin recording sessions. While the band's previous album had been more experimental and contained keyboards performed by touring member Zac Baird to give their music more atmosphere, the album was recorded as a four-piece band with guitars by Shaffer, bass by Arvizu, drums by Luzier, and vocals by Davis. Unlike the band's more recent albums, the music was recorded with an analog 24-track tape machine and without the use of Pro Tools, similar to the recording of the band's first albums. In addition to the songs already written by Shaffer, Arvizu and Luzier, Davis wrote eleven songs in less than five days shortly after, Davis recorded demos of his songs with guitar and bass recorded by himself over a programmed drum beat. The finished demos were then presented the rest of the band, who played the material live, to "add their own flavor to the songs," according to Davis. While the band had access to a large recording studio, Robinson insisted that the album was recorded in a small 8' x 8' cubicle nicknamed "the catbox" originally intended for recording guitars.

Styles and themes

Lyrical themes

In April 2009, vocalist Jonathan Davis revealed that he was planning to make the album a concept album, and that it was to lyrically revolve around the concept of five symbols that Davis identifies as the "downfall of man". One of these symbols is organized religion, something that Davis considered to be responsible for a lot of things that have gone wrong in the world today. The other symbols are drugs, power, money, and time. In September 2009, however, Davis said that his idea for a concept album wasn't turning out as he had originally intended. He proposes that, instead, he's just going to sing however he feels at that moment. Davis also feels the album will combine the "raw catharsis of early Korn records" with the "storytelling ". He commented, "I wanted it to start out as a concept album but now there are other things coming up that I want to talk about. I don't know necessarily if the concept's going to stick or not ... It's weird. I've been humming my lyrics along with the band as they play. I haven't done that in forever. We'd usually do our parts separately, and then I'd do my thing over the music after the song was done. We've been writing altogether as a band this time. I've been freestyling all of these lyrics that aren't necessarily about the five things I initially came up with for the album's concept. It's total freestyling—complete stream-of-consciousness. I'm really digging it. I might just go with what's coming out of my body at that moment..."

Davis also proposed that the album will recall their early albums, using a vibe that doesn't sound over-produced. He elaborates, "We're not trying to do Korn II, or Life Is Peachy II, but it's just to have that vibe back where it's not too over-produced. Just slamming people's faces, like we did back, in '94, '95, and '96." Davis concludes that the album will be simple, rather than complicated as he proposes their previous few albums were.

In April 2010 Davis revealed that topics for songs were "about me living my life for others when I shouldn't, people-pleasing all of the time, stress, guilt and all kinds of emotions we live with everyday that destroy us and tear us down. I write about all of the fake people around us and how I always try to fix other people's problems. I write what I feel, and it comes out naturally. I've got a lot of shit built up inside me; that doesn't go away."

Instrumentation

During the recording of the album guitarist James Shaffer used several vintage guitars, echos, long delays and reverbs as well as employed fingerpicking during certain instrumental passages. Producer Ross Robinson also involved Shaffer with creating different guitar sounds by experimenting with effect pedals, beating the guitar with a drum stick or shaking Shaffer while he was playing. Shaffer also commented that "When we did the first two records, we broke the music down to a completely emotional beast. Through the years, we started to experiment with vocal harmonies and more orchestrated pieces. Recording this album, we brought that knowledge into the raw emotion of what we already knew. You hear the melodies and layers, but it still comes from a very primitive Korn." All drum parts by Luzier were recorded without the use of a click track allowing the band to change tempo during different parts of the songs. Robinson often confronted Luzier stopping in the middle of takes and confronting him wondering why he was wasting his time, according to Shaffer this was done to make Luzier understand the obstacles Korn had to overcome. Luzier commented "The first week or so, I was having a hard time with it. I wanted to strangle the guy. He was punching cymbals, kicking stands, screaming. On a couple of tracks on the record, you can actual hear him yelling. He would come up and push my arm on a fill. It was intense." Luzier also earned the nickname "Dr. Octopus" during the recording process because many of his drum takes demanded the Luzier would cross his arms to reach different drums and cymbals. Luzier also commented much of his playing were different then his previous work, particularly the album's first single - "Oildale (Leave Me Alone)" - which according to Luzier described " groove is so weird and odd for me to play, so I would come up with my own ideas but Ross would alter them. Some of them he would try to take in another direction, or if I was hitting the kick on the down, he would say, ‘What if you put all the kicks on the upbeats and hit the downbeat with the floor tom instead?’ The “Oildale” song is just that. The main groove of it is me hitting the floor tom and all the kicks are on the upbeats" Vocalist Jonathan Davis also remarked that he "didn't stack four or five vocal parts like I usually do. I'm singing one part for every song, which was scary. It's just me and the microphone, and you can really hear the emotion."

Title and artwork

During the recording process the band referred to the album as Korn III - a reference to the band's early material - later the title of the album was extended to Korn III – Remember Who You Are. Davis explained that meaning of the albums title with: "It comes down to one question: 'Who the fuck am I?' It's about remembering where we came from. The title sums up everything I'm talking about lyrically." Shaffer also commented that "You can lose focus of why you wanted to start playing music in the beginning because you can get caught up in the money and the fame and the traveling. It’s kind of like, ‘OK, let’s hit the reset button." On May 14, the artwork for the album was revealed on Roadrunner Records official website, the photo was taken in Oildale, California.

Promotion and live performances

In August 2009, Korn announced plans to release a three-track EP featuring an instrumental demo from the upcoming album. The EP was released digitally exclusively to premium-paying members of Korn's website on September 28, 2009. The band also allows premium-paying members of their website to view live studio production sessions via webcam. Guitarist James Shaffer revealed in an interview that the band intends to embark on an eighteen-month world tour to promote the album, starting in February. In January 2010 Kevin Lyman revealed that Korn would headline the Rockstar Mayhem Festival tour, throughout North america along with Rob Zombie, Lamb of God and Five Finger Death Punch. In March Jonathan Davis revealed plans for the Ballroom Blitz Tour, a concert tour along with 2Cents held in smaller venues similar to that of the bands first tours. On March 26, 2010 they performed the first single from the album, entitled "Oildale (Leave Me Alone)", at their show in Anchorage, Alaska.

On May 27, Roadrunner Records released a free mp3 download for the song "Are You Ready to Live?" but only for a 24 hour period.

Release and reception

In an interview in October 2009 guitarist Shaffer revealed that the band had discussed several different options to release the album, with or without being signed to a record label. Shaffer mentioned releasing the songs three at a time on the internet, on a USB key or on CD, or possibly all three options. While no official release date has been set Shaffer mentioned a possible release in February 2010. In December 2009 Davis revealed that the recording of the album is complete and that the album is targeted for a June 2010 release. In January 2010 a video of the band recording a song entitled "My Time" (now known as "Are You Ready to Live?") was leaked, uploaded copies of the song and video, which has been described as "old school Korn", was quickly removed by the band's management.

On March 15, in the announcement of the Ballroom Blitz Tour, the album title was also revealed to be "Korn III: Remember Who You Are". In March 2010 Shaffer revealed via a online chat with fans that Korn had chosen to sign with Roadrunner Records, this was later confirmed by Davis who called the label "a good home " and added that "they're one of the last real, respected labels left... We looked at all the other options and didn't want to go down that road again." Davis also explained that the band ultimately decided to abandon the idea of releasing the album independently, "We could do it on our own, but it's so complicated with all the business aspects and marketing and all that other stuff that I'm never really into..."

Release schedule

* July 9, 2010 – Australia

* July 12, 2010 – United Kingdom

* July 13, 2010 – United States

Personnel

*Jonathan Davis - vocals

*James Shaffer - guitar, lap steel

*Reginald Arvizu - bass

*Ray Luzier - drums

*Ross Robinson - production

See also

*Korn 2009 Digital EP

*Ballroom Blitz Tour

*Mayhem Festival 2010

References

Category:Korn

Category:Korn albums

Category:Upcoming albums

Category:Albums produced by Ross Robinson

es:Korn III – Remember Who You Are

nl:KoRn III: Remember Who You Are

Artist/Band Information

Korn or KoЯn is an American rock band formed in Bakersfield, California, in 1993.The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed after L.A.P.D.,a band consisting of 3 members that have been with Korn, broke up.

Korn formed in 1993, the same year they released their first demo album, Neidermeyer's Mind.. Retrieved 2010-03-10. The album featured the two ex-members of Korn, Brian "Head" Welch and David Silveria. Their debut album, Korn was released in 1994, where they featured the same musicians that had performed on Neidermeyer's Mind. The band began recording Life Is Peachy in April 1996, and released it on October 15, 1996. Follow the Leader is recognized as Korn's mainstream breakthrough, peaking #1 on the Billboard 200 in 1998, along with the following album, Issues in 1999. Billboard.com. Retrieved 2010-03-10. The band released Untouchables on June 11, 2002, and later released Take a Look in the Mirror November 21, 2003, both peaking in the top 10 of the Billboard 200. Their first compilation album,Greatest Hits Vol. 1, peaked #4 on the Billboard 200. See You on the Other Side was released on December 6, 2005, and Korn's untitled album was released nearly 2 years later on July 31, 2007, Korn III – Remember Who You Are, the bands 9th studio album will be released July 9th 2010 via Roadrunner Records. Korn currently has 34 singles and 18 of which have charted. The band has had 6 video albums and 32 music videos.

To date, Korn has sold 16 million albums in the U.S., and selling 32 million albums worldwide as of 2009. while earning six Grammy nominations—two of which they have won (for "Freak on a Leash" and "Here to Stay").

History

Formation, Neidermeyer's Mind demo, Korn (1993–1995)

Korn formed after the group L.A.P.D. folded, due to singer Richard Morrill's drug addiction. Musicians Reginald Arvizu, James Shaffer, and David Silveria wanted to continue, and recruited guitarist Brian Welch and started a new band called Creep.

In early 1993, the band took notice of vocalist Jonathan Davis after seeing his band Sexart and attempted to get him to join Creep. Davis initially did not want to join the band, but after consulting a psychic he decided to audition and then joined the band, as mentioned by Jonathan Davis himself in an interview in the DVD Who Then Now?. After Jonathan was recruited, the band decided they needed a new name. After coming up with a few different names, the band decided on "Corn." Jonathan suggested the name during a jam session, and everyone else liked it. One of the band members came up with the idea to spell it as "KoЯn" like a child wrote it, with a "K" instead of "C" and a backwards, upper-case "R".

In April that year, the band began a working relationship with producer Ross Robinson, which led to their first demo tape entitled Neidermeyer's Mind. The band had problems getting signed during its first year due to the 1990s rock scene, which was primarily grunge. After many attempts at a record deal, Paul Pontius from Immortal/Epic Records heard the band in a nightclub and was so impressed, then signed them on the spot.Liner notes for Greatest Hits Vol. 1 With a producer and a label, Korn started work on their self-titled debut album.

Musically, the album was a mix of heavy metal, grunge, hip hop, and funk the latter elements encompassed in the rhythmic approach to the band's compositions. "Blind" was the first single from the album, which got a decent amount of airplay and attention. Once Korn saw a release on October 11, 1994, the band toured incessantly with no support from radio or video stations. The band relied solely on their intense live shows which created a large cultlike following of dedicated fans. It was the effort of this fanbase that helped push Korn onto the Billboard 200, eventually peaking at #72 in 1996, with "Shoots and Ladders" being their first Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance. On their first large tour, Korn opened for Danzig alongside Marilyn Manson. Other bands Korn opened for in 1995 included Megadeth, 311, Fear Factory, Flotsam and Jetsam, and KMFDM. However, the first tour that widely exposed the band was opening for Ozzy Osbourne alongside Deftones. After opening for lesser-known bands such as Dimestore Hoods, Sugar Ray (at the time), and Life of Agony, Korn returned to the studio to record a second album.

Life Is Peachy (1996–1997)

Korn teamed up with Ross Robinson once again for their second album, Life Is Peachy, released on October 15, 1996. Musically, it was similar to the first album, but also showed more of a funk influence on tracks like "Porno Creep" and "Swallow". The album included two covers, War's "Low Rider", with Davis' bagpipes and Welch on vocals, and Ice Cube's "Wicked", with guest vocalist Chino Moreno of Deftones. To help promote their new album, Korn opened for Metallica, and utilized the Internet. Life Is Peachy sold more than 106,000 copies in its first week and reached #3 on the Billboard 200. The first single, "No Place to Hide", spawned a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance. "A.D.I.D.A.S." was the second single and only music video, which also did well. The band gained more popularity after co-headlining the Lollapalooza music festival in 1997 with Tool. However, Korn was forced to drop off the bill after Shaffer was diagnosed with viral meningitis. Also that year, Korn augmented their growing crossover appeal by collaborating with Los Angeles-based production and remix duo the Dust Brothers on the track "Kick the P.A.". This track appeared on the motion picture soundtrack of the film Spawn.

In late 1997, Korn formed their own record label, Elementree Records. The first band signed was Videodrone, whose singer, Ty Elam, is credited with giving Jonathan Davis singing lessons. Orgy, however, released their debut album prior to Videodrone's, giving Elementree its first Platinum certification. Orgy's guitarist, Ryan Shuck, is known for playing alongside Davis and Elam in the band Sexart. Over the next few years, Korn signed other acts like rapper Marz and Deadsy.

Follow the Leader, mainstream success (1998–1999)

Prior to the release of the band's third album, Korn produced a weekly online TV show, KornTV, which documented the making of the record and featured special guests such as porn star Ron Jeremy, Limp Bizkit, and 311. The project also gave fans the chance to call in and ask the band questions, an approach that represented one of the first times a band utilized the Internet in such a way. Korn released their third album, Follow the Leader, on August 18, 1998, which featured a number of guest vocalists such as Ice Cube, Tre Hardson from the Pharcyde, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit and actor Cheech Marin on the hidden track "Earache My Eye" (written by Marin himself).

Korn launched a political campaign-style tour to promote the release of Follow the Leader. The tour took the group, on a chartered jet, all over North America to help promote Follow the Leader. They talked to fans and answered questions during special "fan conferences", which were organized at every stop along the tour route, and signed autographs. Jim Rose hosted the entire "Kampaign" tour.

The album was a complete success, debuting at #1 on Billboard with 268,000 copies sold, and spawning the singles "Got the Life" and "Freak on a Leash". They both exposed Korn to a wider, mainstream audience, with the music videos being mainstays on MTV's Total Request Live. "Got the Life" was the show's very first "retired" video, with "Freak on a Leash" reaching that same success months later. The singles also fared well on Billboard, with "Freak on a Leash" peaking in the top 10 of both Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock, the latter of which it spent 27 weeks on—more than any other Korn single to date.

"Freak on a Leash" won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form, and received a nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance. The video also earned nine MTV Video Music Awards nominations for Video of the Year, Best Rock Video, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, Best Special Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Viewer's Choice. It eventually won two, for Best Rock Video and Best Editing. Follow the Leader is the band's most commercially-successful album, being certified 5x Platinum by the RIAA and having sold almost ten million copies worldwide.

The same year Follow the Leader was released, Korn started their own annual tour called the Family Values Tour. Korn headlined the highly-successful tour along with Incubus, Orgy, Limp Bizkit, Ice Cube, and the German industrial band, Rammstein. A live CD and DVD were released and earned Gold and Platinum certifications, respectively. In 1999, Limp Bizkit headlined, along with Primus, Staind, The Crystal Method, Method Man & Redman, and Filter. Korn were not featured on the bill and instead only made surprise appearances at a few of the stops to perform "Falling Away From Me" from "Issues". The tour took a break in 2000.

Issues (1999–2001)

The band's fourth album, Issues, produced by Brendan O'Brien, was released on November 16, 1999, featuring cover art designed by Alfredo Carlos, who won a contest held for the fans by MTV. Issues was released during a week of many highly-anticipated records. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with more than 573,000 copies sold, keeping Dr. Dre's long-awaited album 2001 and Celine Dion's greatest hits album from hitting #1.

To celebrate the album's release, the band performed the record in its entirety in front of a live audience at New York's historic Apollo Theater and broadcast the concert simultaneously across many radio stations. This performance made Korn the first rock band, and only the second predominantly white musical group, to ever perform at The Apollo, after the legendary Buddy Holly in the late 1950s. This special event featured the NYPD marching drum and bagpipe band conducted by Richard Gibbs as well as a group of back-up singers to enhance the more melodic choruses Davis used on the album.

Earlier that year, Korn had appeared on an episode of South Park, titled Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery, in which the first single from Issues, "Falling Away from Me", was premiered. Korn released two more singles from Issues, "Make Me Bad" and "Somebody Someone", both of which fared well on Billboard. Videos were shot for all three singles, with long time friend Fred Durst directing "Falling Away from Me", and Martin Weisz directing a concept video for "Make Me Bad", as well as a performance video for "Somebody Someone", which featured the use of CGI effects. Every video was a staple on Total Request Live, two of which made it to retirement. Issues is considered by some critics to be less hip hop-influenced and closer to alternative metal than nu metal. It was certified 3x Platinum, following up the success of Follow the Leader.

For the Sick and Twisted Tour, following the release of the Issues album, the band allowed fans attending each show on the tour to vote for that show's setlist. The voting was done on the band's official website. Fans were given the chance to vote for their 5 favorite songs from each of Korn's albums. The votes were tallied and a unique setlist was created and played for each stop along the tour. The show also featured the "Spike & Mike Sick & Twisted Animation Festival" which was displayed for fans on a large screen before the band played its set. The first leg of the tour lasted from February to April of 2000, at which time the band jumped onto the Summer Sanitarium tour until returning to the Second leg of the tour in July and finishing in August.

Untouchables (2002–2003)

On June 10, 2002, after a year and a half of hard work and a long creative process, Korn re-emerged into the media spotlight with their fifth album, Untouchables. It debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 with 434,000 in sales. Sales were disappointing in comparison to the first four albums, as Untouchables has only been certified Platinum once. The band has blamed Internet piracy for the drop in sales, as an unmastered version of the album had leaked three months prior to its official release date.

The release of this album was preceded by a show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, a day prior to the album's release, broadcast digitally throughout U.S. movie theatres. Untouchables featured electronic beats, strings and various guitar effects the band had never used in an album before. The overall feel was drastically different from previous efforts, particularly tracks like "Alone I Break," "Hating," and "Hollow Life," which singer Jonathan Davis claims is one of his favorite Korn songs to this day.

The first two videos from Untouchables were directed by the Hughes Brothers (best known for their films, Menace II Society and From Hell). The first video, "Here to Stay," has the band playing inside a TV with a static background along with controversial news stories and world issues being presented. The song itself earned Korn a Grammy for Best Metal Performance, and would become their highest-peaking single on Billboard's Modern Rock chart. The second video, "Thoughtless", was a nod back to Davis' childhood as the character in the video (previously featured in the first Vanilla Coke commercial) is picked on and constantly beaten. The third video for Untouchables, "Alone I Break," was directed by Sean Dack, who won the honor of directing the video through an MTV contest.

Take a Look in the Mirror, Greatest Hits: Volume 1, Head's departure (2003–2005)

Prior to their next album, Korn released a new single, "Did My Time" on July 22, 2003, which was used to promote the film but did not appear on the soundtrack to Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. Angelina Jolie appeared in the Dave Meyers-directed video. "Did My Time" also gave Korn yet another Grammy nomination in the Best Metal Performance category. Take a Look in the Mirror marks Korn's attempt to return to a more aggressive sound as featured on their earlier albums and brings back the classic rap style on songs "Play Me" and a Live Version of Metallica's "One" as a Hidden track, making it the first album since Follow The Leader to feature such attributes. The album peaked at #9 and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. It spawned four singles "Did My Time", "Right Now", "Y'All Want a Single", and "Everything I've Known" charting on Billboards Mainstream Rock Tracks at #12, #11, #23, and #30 respectively.

Korn released their greatest hits album, Greatest Hits Vol.1, on October 5, 2004. The album debuted at #4 on Billboard, selling more than 129,000 copies. It featured two cover songs as singles, and a compilation of the band's hits from the past 10 years. The first single was a cover of the song "Word Up!", which was originally made popular by the group Cameo. The second single was a medley of all three parts of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall". A remix of their hit single "Freak on a Leash" was also included as a bonus track. Special editions of the album included a DVD titled Korn: Live at CBGB featuring seven select songs from their November 24, 2003 show at CBGB.

Prior to Korn starting work on See You On The Other Side, Brian "Head" Welch announced that he had "...chosen the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior, and will be dedicating his musical pursuits to that end," and was formally leaving Korn. Initial speculations that this was a hoax or practical joke were proven wrong; he has become highly spiritual, even being baptized in the Jordan River and speaking openly about his faith and conversion. This was the band's first official line-up change in their history.

See You on the Other Side, EMI/Virgin, Return of Family Values Tour (2005–2006)

Upon completing their record deal with Sony, Korn partnered with EMI and signed to Virgin Records. As part of this innovative arrangement, Virgin paid Korn $25 million upfront in exchange for a share in the profits of their next two studio albums, including tours and merchandising. Virgin also received a 30 percent stake in the band's licensing, ticket sales and other revenue sources.

The band's first album for Virgin, See You on the Other Side, was released on December 6, 2005, and debuted on #3 on the Billboard 200, scanning close to 221,000 copies. The album managed to stay in the top 100 of the Billboard 200 for 34 consecutive weeks. The first single from the album, "Twisted Transistor", was accompanied by a comedic video directed by Dave Meyers in which rap stars Xzibit, Lil' Jon, Snoop Dogg, and David Banner portray Korn. The single itself peaked at #3 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks, Korn's highest entry thus far, and #9 on Modern Rock. The second single, "Coming Undone", had its performance-based video directed by Little X, who previously helmed only hip hop and R&B videos. See You on the Other Side is certified Platinum, and has sold over two million copies worldwide.

Korn held a press conference at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on January 13, 2006, announcing the See You on the Other Side Tour. 10 Years and Mudvayne were selected to open all dates of the trek, which kicked off in their hometown of Bakersfield, on what Mayor Harvey Hall officially declared as "Korn Day", February 26. The resurrection of their Family Values Tour was announced on April 18, 2006, which featured co-headliners Deftones, Stone Sour, Flyleaf, and the Japanese metal group, Dir En Grey on the main stage. Korn and Evanescence co-headlined the 2007 edition, with Atreyu, 2006 alumni Flyleaf, Hellyeah, and Trivium rounding out the main stage.

While promoting See You on the Other Side in Europe, Jonathan Davis was diagnosed with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, a blood platelet disorder that hospitalized him for the weekend and prevented him from performing at the renowned Download Festival. The band still performed, with guest singers including Corey Taylor of Slipknot/Stone Sour fame, Skindred's Benji Webbe, and Avenged Sevenfold's M. Shadows. This led to Korn canceling the rest of their European bill for 2006, including the Hellfest Summer Open Air. It was originally unknown to the public what his ailment was, but the singer revealed in a letter to fans that he was "dangerously low on blood platelets and at a high risk of death from a hemorrhage if the problem was not treated". His illness did not affect the 2006 Family Values Tour.

Untitled album, MTV Unplugged, David Silveria's departure (2006–2008)

In early December it was announced that founding drummer David Silveria would be taking an indefinite “hiatus” from the band. Korn then performed at the MTV studios in Times Square on December 9, 2006, for the MTV Unplugged series, which was broadcast on February 23, 2007, through MTV.com and on March 2, 2007, across North American, South American, European and Asian MTV stations. In front of a crowd of approximately 50 people, Korn played a 14-song acoustic set complete with guest appearances by The Cure and Amy Lee of Evanescence. The performance was eventually cut down to 11 songs for the album, two of which did not air on MTV. Sales of nearly 51,000 brought MTV Unplugged: Korn to #9 in its first week out.

Korn's untitled eighth album was released on July 31, 2007, debuting at #2 with 123,000 copies in its first week. The album has been certified Gold for shipments in excess of 500,000 copies. It also concludes Korn's unique deal with Virgin Records, and features touring keyboardist Zac Baird, giving the tracks a deeper, atmospheric sound. Drumming duties were left up to Terry Bozzio, and Bad Religion's Brooks Wackerman, as David Silveria went on a hiatus. Joey Jordison from Slipknot played drums during Korn's live shows until the permanent addition of Ray Luzier, confirming David's departure. "Evolution" and "Hold On" were released as singles to promote the album, charting on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks at #4 and #9, respectively. A third single, "Kiss", had a limited release in April 2008, being pulled from radio stations over a month after its release.

Korn III – Remember Who You Are, Roadrunner, and recent events (Since 2008)

Ubisoft reported in October that "Korn has written and recorded an original song inspired by Ubisoft's "Haze" video game, simply entitled "Haze", which was released on April 22, 2008. As a first in the video game industry, "Haze" will be released and promoted as a full-fledged single and music video, not just as an exclusive download with the video game.

Korn also released a new live DVD, Korn: Live in Montreux 2004, one of their performances with former guitarist Brian Welch on May 12, 2008. Additionally, a second greatest hits compilation titled, "Playlist: The Very Best of Korn" was released on April 29, 2008.

On February 12, 2009, Korn announced they were playing at the Rock Fest in Cadott, Wisconsin, as well as the 3rd annual Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio. Later on, the band were confirmed for the Download Festival taking place in the UK, sub-headlining to Faith No More, as well as the simultaneous German festivals Rock am Ring and Rock im Park.

In 2009, Korn (Jonathan Davis playing drums, Fieldy on bass and Munky on guitar) appeared in Lil Wayne's "Prom Queen" music video.

It was also revealed that drummer Ray Luzier was now an official full time member of Korn, and that he is writing for the new album also.http

In a recent Interview with Ross Robinson, he stated that this will be his third Korn album and that the album was going to be ruthless and remind everyone who can kill them. Also in response to the question "Will Korn be returning to their roots" Robinson replied: "What roots? They have Bakersfield and I have Barstow – we really don't want to go back there. If 'roots' is to destroy and wake people from sleep walking through life, then yes." Ross also mentioned that if he had to sign any unsigned band to his record label it would be Korn, since they are unsigned right now. It has also been revealed by Ross that Munky and Fieldy are already in the studio writing material for the new album.

In a YouTube video in May, Fieldy talked about the "Chi Song" project he was putting together (released as A Song for Chi) which was released recently to raise money for Deftones bassist Chi Cheng who was in a car crash in late 2008, which resulted in him falling into a coma. Fieldy revealed that Slipknot guitarist Jim Root, Clint Lowery of Sevendust, drummer Dave McClain of Machine Head and former Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch, would be one of the many musicians playing on the song. This was the first time Head has played with any of his former bandmates since his departure in 2005.

Jonathan has recently stated that after the band finish the "Escape from the Studio Tour" in the fall of 2009, he will be able to go into the studio and start writing and recording on the songs fellow members Fieldy, Munky, and Ray have already written. He went on to state after that the band can pretty much add to the songs and fix the cracks then let Ross go through them, and the album will start coming together fast and should be aiming for an early 2010 release date. Korn have recently used a teaser for their new 2010 album release on their website.

On January 20, 2010 it was announced on the Mayhem Festival's official website that Korn will be headlining the 2010 Mayhem Festival alongside Rob Zombie, Lamb of God, and Five Finger Death Punch.

However, soon after this announcement, the rockstarmayhem's YouTube channel released a video featuring a song from the new album titled, "My Time". In less than an hour, it was abruptly removed and efforts were then made by KoRn's representatives to stop the leak that began spreading quickly over various social and Korn fansites. Ross Robinson later stated on his Twitter that the leak was "rough mix" that was missing guitar parts and vocal fixes. Rumor began to circulate that the song would be cut from the album. When asked via Twitter to confirm this rumor, Robinson stated that it would be on the album.

On March 15, 2010 in the announcement of the Ballroom Blitz Tour, the title for the new album was revealed as Korn III – Remember Who You Are.

On March 23, 2010, Luzier announced that Korn has officially signed to Roadrunner Records.

On April 25, 2010, Korn announced the track list of their new album.

On May 4, 2010, Roadrunner Records released a new single titled "Oildale (Leave Me Alone)"

On May 14, 2010, Four more tracks were released as samples through radio stations throughout the country. Those tracks included: Pop a Pill, Let the Guilt Go, The Past, Fear is a Place to Live.

On May 27, 2010, Korn released the studio version of "Are You Ready to Live" on BBC airwaves.

On May 31, 2010, Korn released the music video for "Oildale (Leave Me Alone)".

Controversy with former band members

In September 2009, Korn guitarist Munky, in an interview with Altitude TV, alleged that the band had denied a request by Welch to rejoin the outfit. In the interview, Munky claimed:

"Brian ('Head' Welch) actually contacted us recently and wanted to come back to the band. And it was not the right time... for us. We're doing well, and it's kind of like... It's kind of like if you divorced your wife and she went on and she stayed successful and her career flourished, and you go back and , 'My gosh, she's still hot.' 'Baby, can we get back together?' 'Wait a minute... All the stuff's been divided, and it's like...' I don't see it happening right now. It's not gonna happen right now."

Shortly after, Welch responded to the statement via his Myspace, denying the claims:

"I recently learned of an interview that Munky gave where he said that I came to Korn and asked to be taken back in the band. That's definitely not a complete and accurate picture. The full truth is that for about a year, ever since Jonathan publicly said he wanted me back in Korn, Korn's managers have been requesting my manager to work on getting me back into Korn. The calls were initiated by Korn's managers, not my manager. I shut the door on their requests many, many times over the last several months, through my manager.

However, Fieldy personally called me during Korn's last tour in Europe and we talked as friends for a long time. He also told me if I ever wanted to rejoin Korn, or open for Korn as a solo artist, the door was always open. Since Fieldy is sober now and a christian like me, I thought it may be a good idea to visit with Fieldy, a friend of mine, to see what he was up to and what it was all about. I had a great time re-connecting with Fieldy. I mainly went to his house to connect with an old friend. The Korn stuff we talked about was secondary, but It was discussed. Fieldy thought that Jonathan, Munky, and I should all meet AS FRIENDS; re-connect; and maybe discuss the possibilities. Both Jonathan and Munky refused that meeting. I learned a lot visiting with Fieldy. I learned that I love and miss my friends, but the visit confirmed to me that I have a different calling in life than to reconnect musically/professionally.

As far as Munky's comment that "everything has been divided already" that is also not accurate. In fact, from January 2005 when I left, and for the next 4 years, Korn failed to pay to me royalties that were due me on records that I did with them. However, I don't believe this was done intentionally. We are trying to be patient and work with their management to get the financial issues resolved so that "everything can be divided as we agreed long ago in our contracts." I am optimistic that we can resolve it as friends.

I continue to wish nothing but the best for Korn, and that includes all of my friends there—Fieldy, Jonathan and Munky."

Weeks later, in reference to Korn's early albums, Jonathan stated in an interview with pulseoftheradio:

"I'll lay it down to you right now: all the writing was done by Fieldy and Munky. Head wasn't really there for any of it, because he was so jacked up on drugs and worrying about other things. So the core of Korn is there. David was there to write beats, but he wasn't really there. And adding Ray as the drummer — he loves playing drums and he plays just like David did. We're excited that we found someone that fits that mold. So I think we got the three that's the core of what Korn is."

Discography

* Korn (1994)

* Life Is Peachy (1996)

* Follow The Leader (1998)

* Issues (1999)

* Untouchables (2002)

* Take a Look in the Mirror (2003)

* See You on the Other Side (2005)

* Untitled (2007)

* Korn III – Remember Who You Are (2010)

Awards and nominations

Korn has sold over 35 million albums worldwide, including 17 million in the United States. The group has received two awards from six Grammy nominations: one for "Best Short Form Music Video" for the song "Freak on a Leash", and one for "Best Metal Performance" for the song "Here to Stay". Korn has also received two awards from ten nominations from the MTV Video Music Awards: the band won both "Best Rock Video" and "Best Editing" for the song "Freak on a Leash".

Band members

Korn was a stable five-piece band for most of their existence. After the departure of Head, Korn adopted a backup band for their live performances. The backup band only plays live shows with Korn, none of the members of the backup band are considered to be official members of Korn. For most of 2005, they wore animal masks based on the See You on the Other Side artwork and black uniforms to help better distinguish them. Throughout 2007 the members have performed unmasked, but have occasionally had their faces painted black and white with unique designs. Since the beginning of 2008 the backup band plays without face paint and with their ordinary clothes instead of the black uniforms they had worn earlier.

;Current

*Jonathan Davis – lead vocals (1993–present)

*James "Munky" Shaffer  – guitars (1993–present)

*Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu – bass (1993–present)

*Ray Luzier – drums, percussion (2007–present)

;Former

*Brian "Head" Welch – guitars, backing vocals (1993–2005)

*David Silveria – drums, percussion (1993–2006)

;Touring

*Shane Gibson  – guitar (2007–present)

*Zac Baird  – keyboard, piano, backing vocals (2006–present)

References