[Photo by: BlogMusicaMetal/Youtube]

Corey Taylor shares advice from the late Vinnie Paul

June 23, 2018

[Photo by: BlogMusicaMetal/Youtube]

Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor has shared some powerful advice the late Vinnie Paul had given him following the death of bandmate and Slipknot bassist Paul Gray in 2010.

While losing a loved one or bandmate is never easy, Taylor told Revolver Magazine that the legendary Pantera drummer’s words really stuck with him:

“You know, it’s crazy: The first gig that we played with [Corey Taylor’s other band] Stone Sour [after Paul’s death] was one of the Rock am Ring, Rock im Park festivals. And the first people I saw were the guys in Alice in Chains [who lost original singer Layne Staley] and the guys from Hellyeah, and then later on, James Hetfield [who lost Metallica bassist Cliff Burton] went out of his way to come and check on me. And it was crazy, you know, like, you don’t really sit down and think about, not only the fact that you’ve lost someone, but just how many people have in this business. I mean, it’s kind of crazy. Just the fact that they went out of their way to see how I was doing and see how the band was doing, not only let me know how much respect they had for Paul, but for the band as a whole, you know. And in a weird way, it felt good to know that, you know, Pauly left his mark, Pauly left his legacy. He helped create music that touched so many people, whether they were fans or other bands.

“The thing that they let me know is that it never really goes away: There’s always a hole, basically. It may get better, but it never really goes away. The best advice I got was from Vinnie. And he basically told me — and this is a guy who not only lost his bandmate, but he lost his brother, his true brother — he let me know, he’s like, “Man, the thing you’ve gotta remember is you’re living for two. You’re living for two now ’cause his spirit is never gone.” He’s like, “So everything you do, every experience, every victory, you know, you’re winning for two, you’re living for two, you’re laughing for two. That’s forever.” And that … it made it a little easier for me. It let me enjoy things. It let me love again, basically, let’s put it that way. And I keep Paul with me every day, you know. And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate Vinnie sharing that with me ’cause, I mean, I knew Vinnie and Dime, both, you know. They were at our first show in Dallas. We got to hang out with them — they were the first dudes that really went out of their way to embrace Slipknot, as far as, like, other bands go. And it was great, it felt really good to know that Vinnie was sharing something with me like that.”

Vinnie Paul died last night at age 54. According to TMZ, Vinnie’s family has stated that the musician “died in his sleep at his home in Las Vegas. His body’s been turned over to the medical examiner to determine a cause of death, and after that he’ll be flown back to his home state of Texas to be buried between his mom and brother.”

Taylor shared a touching post to the drummer on Twitter: