NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 11: Ozzy Osbourne visits the SiriusXM Studios on December 11, 2014 in New … [+] York City. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images)
Getty ImagesIn the rock and metal genres, unexpected collaborations and encounters between iconic musicians can often lead to intriguing „what if“ scenarios. Recently, Corey Taylor, the frontman of the legendary band Slipknot, shared a remarkable story about a chance encounter with none other than Ozzy Osbourne that could have forever altered the course of both artists’s careers.
During a candid interview with Classic Rock magazine, Taylor reminisced about a memorable moment that took place at Ozzfest ’99. Surrounded by the Osbourne family, he found himself in the company of rock royalty. „I was sitting at a table with Jack and Kelly and Sharon,“ Corey recalled. „All of a sudden, Ozzy comes bounding up: ‚Sharon, can you help me with my earrings?‘ And Sharon goes, ‚Ozzy, this is one of the members of Slipknot, it’s Corey, he’s the singer.‘
From there, Ozzy looked at Taylor and said, “You’re the guys with nine members? I wanna be number ten!”
The honor of Osbourne’s statement was not lost on Taylor, even though Slipknot was already a massively popular band at the time. The singer, songwriter and musician responded as many would in that situation, saying, “Dude, you’re Ozzy, anything you want!” Taylor added that to him, the encounter was like “meeting Superman.“
The revelation that the Prince of Darkness himself expressed interest in becoming the tenth member of Slipknot is fun enough to hear, and it surely ranks as one of Taylor’s best memories. Of course, it didn’t come true, but the mere idea of a collaboration between the artists, let alone one joining the other for a period of time, is a lot to take in.
Taylor also unveiled a lesser-known detail about how Slipknot secured their slot at Ozzfest ’99 in the first place. „The reason Slipknot got onto Ozzfest [in 1999] is because we were [Ozzy’s son] Jack’s favorite band,“ Corey disclosed in the interview. „Sharon gave us a little more leeway because of that. We did some crazy shit, but she’d be, ‚It’s fine, it’s Slipknot.'“
Taylor is currently promoting his new solo album, CMF2, which was released on September 15.