Corey Taylor tests positive for COVID-19: "I'm very, very sick"

Slipknot frontman Corey Talyor has tested positive for COVID-19.

Taylor made the announcement in a video shared on the Facebook page of pop culture convention Astronomicon. He was due to appear at their event in Ann Arbor, Michigan, this weekend.

Sounding distinctly hoarse, Taylor said, "I wish I had better news. I woke up today and tested positive, and I’m very, very sick. So I'm not going to make it this weekend, and I'm absolutely devastated. I am so sorry. I hope everyone has a good time. I promise you I will absolutely try to get back there as soon as I can.

“I should be okay. “It’s just [like] the flu. I’m vaccinated, so I’m not worried. But I certainly wouldn’t want to spread it to anyone else. So, everybody be safe out there. And thank you so much. And I will see you again, I promise."

Last year, Australian Radio Station Triple M Triple asked Taylor if he had a message to those who doubted the seriousness of the pandemic and were reluctant to wear masks.

"My country’s loaded with these dumbasses that think it is some sort of political standpoint or some sort of partisan garbage," he responded. “And I’m just like, ‘Are you serious?’ Just because you haven’t had anyone in your life affected by it doesn’t mean that it’s not a real thing.”

He added: “I once had to wear a full head mask for eight hours while doing Slipknot press. Eight hours straight – didn’t take it off, but these people are going to bitch and moan about wearing it for 10 minutes at the market? Get over yourselves.”

Speaking with Forbes earlier this month, Slipknot percussionist Clown detailed the steps Slipknot took to ensure their safety while recording, saying, "If we were in the control room and around the engineers that worked for the studio, we had to wear masks. If we were in the live room where we were recording around each other, and we had all been tested, we didn’t have to wear masks. But, if an employee was in there we’d have to put them on."

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.