Stone Sour is an American rock band from Des Moines, Iowa. The current line up is lead vocalist Corey Taylor, lead guitarist Jim Root, rhythm guitarist Josh Rand, bassist Shawn Economaki, and drummer Roy Mayorga, who replaced former drummer and founding member Joel Ekman. They first formed in 1992 but went on a hiatus due to Corey Taylor and Jim Root joining Slipknot. They reformed in 2002 and released their debut self-titled album. They went on another break due to Taylor and Root going back to Slipknot to work on their third studio album. After Slipknot went on a break after touring in 2006, Taylor and Root returned to Stone Sour and released their second studio album, Come What(ever) May. After another short hiatus, Taylor and Root returned to Stone Sour to work on their third album, Audio Secrecy, which was released on September 7, 2010. They were touring in Europe and are going to be at the first annual Uproar Festival in the US in August, September and October. After the festival, they will go to Japan and on a co-headlining tour in the UK along with Avenged Sevenfold and tour through the rest of Europe again. They soon later began work on their fourth album, The House of Gold and Bones - Part 1, and The House of Gold and Bones - Part 2, which were released on October 22, 2012, and April 9, 2013, alongside the album came comic books based around the story of the albums.
Band History
Formation and early years (1992 - 1997)
Stone Sour was founded by Corey Taylor, vocalist of Slipknot, and former drummer Joel Ekman. Taylor's long time friend, Shawn Economaki joined shortly after, and filled in as the bass player. The band had played clubs and bars with different guitarists - often filling the position for just one show. During these formative years, Stone Sour recorded 2 demo tapes, in 1993 and 1994. Shortly after, in 1995, James Root - who is now also part of Slipknot with Taylor - joined the band. The group was complete, and in 1996 recorded another demo tape, and some songs from which would later be used in 2002 on their self titled debut album, Stone Sour. The band was named after an alcoholic drink that consists of one part whiskey, one part orange juice, with a splash of sour mix. In 1997 the band went on hiatus, during which Taylor and Root spent most of their time with Slipknot, who were another up-and-coming act in Des Moines and would soon earn a record deal. Root actually didn't join the band until a year after Taylor, and Economaki went on to become Stage left guitar tech. Ekman stayed in Des Moines and started a family.
Stone Sour (Self-titled album) (2002 - 2003)
After Josh Rand joined the band, the band recorded their debut self-titled album in Cedar Falls, Iowa, which was released on 31 July 2002 in the UK, and on the 1st of August in the US. Aided by the song "Bother" which was featured on the Spider-Man soundtrack (credited only to Taylor), the album went on to become Gold. The band toured for six months with label mates Sinch and Chevelle before going on a temporary hiatus as Taylor and Root went back to join Slipknot for another album and tour.
Come What(ever) May (2005 - 2007)
The band came back in 2006 to release their second studio album, Come What(ever) May. They parted ways with drummer Joel Ekman currently drumming for Isaac James, who left to take care of his cancer-stricken son, and later recruited current drummer, Roy Mayorga of Soulfly. The track 30/30-150 was recorded with Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin. The album was released on August 1, 2006. It was met with great reviews from critics, and sold 80,000 copies in the first week, allowing it to debut at number four on the Billboard 200. The band toured for the next year and a half, releasing the Live in Moscow album exclusively to iTunes on August 14, 2007. Corey Taylor and James Root returned to Slipknot to record their fourth full length studio album, All Hope Is Gone. Mayorga is now performing with the band Black President. While on the road with Slipknot, Taylor and Root are said to be writing for the next Stone Sour album. Currently, on the main website, there is a strange count-up that seemingly counts up to 60 days and starts over. No report on what this is for yet.
Audio Secrecy (2009 - 2012)
Corey Taylor talked to Rock Sound magazine about the future of Stone Sour. "We are already starting to put together demos for Stone Sour. Our new stuff sounds really melodic but really dark, it is way darker than the first two albums and way more cohesive. I don't know what it is, I'm still flushing shit out." Corey has said that they would like to enter the studio by January to begin recording the 20 plus songs they have written. “I cannot wait to make this Stone Sour album!” said frontman Corey Taylor in an official statement. “Everything already feels a million times stronger than anything we've done in the past. Plus getting back together with Nick is going to mean monstrous things. This is the year for Stone Sour!” Taylor told AOL's Noisecreep that Stone Sour's thirdcoming album will be "darker than 'Come What(ever) May', but a lot more melodic, a lot stronger, a lot more mature, and the lyrics that are coming out of me are really good. I'm really excited." The band is recording the upcoming album, titled Audio Secrecy, at the Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who was the producer for the band's second album Come What(ever) May. The band has stated that they are aiming for an August 2010 release date through Roadrunner. The name was revealed on May 10, 2010, with Taylor saying that “Audio Secrecy is the summation of everything we want, everything we crave and everything we fight for...The dimensions go further than anything we've ever tried before. It's metal, rock, slow, soft, hard, fast, bitter, beautiful and most importantly, it's real. You can't get an album like this out of a band that doesn't exist. We're throwing caution out the damn window.” In February 2010, it was announced that Stone Sour will headline the second stage at the Download Festival 2010 in the UK and will be a part of Rocklahoma 2010 in Pryor, Oklahoma. Stone Sour will be playing the first annual Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival with Avenged Sevenfold and Disturbed as headliners. Also on the tour will be Hellyeah, Halestorm, Hail the Villain, etc. Stone Sour set the release date of Audio Secrecy as September 7. On the 5th of august, Stone Sour were announced to be part of the Soundwave Festival in late February/early March in Australia 2011.
House of Gold and Bones Pt.1 & 2 (2012-present)
Stone Sour has started making their fourth album and Corey Taylor has said that the album is going to end up being a double album or concept album. Taylor has described that the album will be like Pink Floyd's The Wall Meets Alice in Chain's Dirt.
Corey Taylor posted a tweet on March 20th, 2012 that stated work had begun on the new Stone Sour album on March 27 the band released the song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page. The song was previously only available on the iTunes deluxe version of the soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Part 1 has been released on October 22, 2012
Part 2 has been released on April 9, 2013
Band Members
Current
Corey Taylor - lead vocals, occasional guitar (1992–present)
Johny Chow - bass guitar (2012–present) (Touring Only)
Josh Rand - rhythm guitar (2001–present)
Roy Mayorga - drums, percussion (2006–present)
Christian Martucci - guitar (2014-present) (Touring Only)
Former
Joel Ekman - drums, percussion (1992–2006)
Shawn Economaki - bass (1992-2012)
Jim Root - guitar (1995-2014)