Corey Taylor discussed the financial status of Slipknot’s members in a new interview, and considering the band is one of the most popular metal acts in the world, his comments were a bit surprising.
The singer opened up about the money side of his profession in an appearance on the FeedbackDef podcast. During the interview, Taylor stated that he believes he and his bandmates qualify as “upper middle class” but aren’t in the same tax bracket as, say, pop superstar Taylor Swift.
“Honestly, in a weird way, we don’t make a lot of money,” Taylor said [as transcribed by Blabbermouth]. “I mean, we make enough to live, obviously, and we can live comfortably, but we’ve never been offered massive deals. There’s a lot of us in the band, and there’s a whole crew that we have to pay. There’s the production that we have to pay for. There’s all of this shit that we need to pay for. So at the end of the day, we are paid pretty much commensurate with what we are worth.”
The vocalist continued, “We’ve never been even close to the big paydays that sports people get, actors — all of that shit. So in a weird way, we’re kind of — if you adjust for inflation, we’re upper middle class, basically. We’re not extravagant. We’re not rich by any stretch of the means, but we do okay. I can take care of my family. Their educations are good to go. I have insurance for all of my kids. And really, that’s it.”
Taylor went on to opine on the reason why Slipknot — despite their international renown and achievements as a pioneering modern metal band — aren’t raking it in like other some other famous recording artists. In short, he feels the band is somewhat boxed into its genre by the extreme nature of the music.
“Maybe it’s because we’re so reactionary,” Taylor said of Slipknot. “Maybe it’s because we are not palatable for a mass audience. We appeal to our genre and people kind of on the outskirts of our genre, but that’s it. We appeal to a lot of them, so we do okay, but we’re never gonna see fucking Taylor Swift money, shit like that. So the misconception that all rock stars are just rolling in it, that’s not true. There’s a reason why we have to tour as much as we do, because that’s the only way we can actually pay our fucking bills.”
Not only is Corey Taylor active with Slipknot, but the singer is also maintaining a steady solo career, as well. We recently caught up with Taylor for our Consequence cover story, Beyond the Mask: Corey Taylor’s Ride from Wild to Wise, and fans can enter to win an exclusive merch bundle featuring a T-shirt and photo print.
Listen to the “FeedbackDef” podcast episode with Corey Taylor, and enter our aforementioned giveaway contest, below.