Stone Sour

Hailing from the identical Midwestern territory that spawned the more aggressive Slipknot, the American five-piece Stone Sour forged a separate path as a Grammy-nominated hard-rock ensemble, amassing a run of Top Ten albums highlighted by the platinum-certified Come What(ever) May from 2006 and the two-part House of Gold & Bones.

Slipknot reached mainstream audiences in the late ’90s, yet vocalist Corey Taylor and guitarist Jim Root had already launched Stone Sour several years earlier. Drawing influence from Metallica and Alice in Chains, the band logged time on the Iowa club circuit until Taylor and Root departed for Slipknot. Following the first two Slipknot albums, Stone Sour regrouped in 2002 and quickly established a post-grunge identity distinct from Slipknot’s intense, drum-driven metal. Taylor and Root recruited original guitarist Josh Rand and bassist Shawn Economaki to cut a full-length record; several earlier demos were reworked for the self-titled debut, which earned two Grammy nominations and RIAA gold certification. With drummer Joel Ekman added, the group contributed “Bother” (credited solely to Taylor) to the Spider-Man soundtrack while tracking the album in Los Angeles. After supporting tours, Stone Sour paused briefly while Taylor and Root focused on Slipknot’s Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses.

Years afterward the quintet reconvened to record a follow-up. Produced by Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Velvet Revolver), the platinum-selling Come What(ever) May appeared in August 2006, reached number four on the Billboard charts, and yielded the hit single “Through Glass.” That year Stone Sour joined the Family Values tour alongside headliners Deftones and Korn; a digital live set, Live in Moscow, surfaced in 2007. Once touring concluded, Taylor and Root again turned to Slipknot, resulting in the chart-topping All Hope Is Gone of 2008.

Stone Sour’s subsequent break proved shorter. In 2010 they issued Audio Secrecy, a comparatively restrained album reflecting greater songwriting maturity. The pattern continued with 2012’s House of Gold & Bones, Pt. 1, the opening half of a conceptual double album. House of Gold & Bones, Pt. 2 followed in 2013; by then Root was missing from live lineups, and his exit was officially announced later that year. Two cover EPs, Meanwhile in Burbank and Straight Outta Burbank, arrived in 2015, preceding the sixth studio album, Hydrograd, in 2017. The first Stone Sour release without Root, it climbed to number eight on the Billboard 200. In 2019 the band delivered the concert album Hello, You Bastards: Live in Reno.