Stone Sour

Emerging from the same Midwest expanse as heavier sibling act Slipknot, American quintet Stone Sour carved out their own identity as a Grammy-nominated hard rock outfit with a string of Top Ten albums, including 2006's platinum hit Come What(ever) May and the two-part House of Gold & Bones.

Although Slipknot made their mainstream debut in the late '90s, singer Corey Taylor and guitarist Jim Root got their start a few years prior in Stone Sour. Inspired by Metallica and Alice in Chains, the group spent several years playing the Iowa bar circuit before Taylor and Root joined Slipknot. After the release of Slipknot's first two albums, Stone Sour re-formed in 2002 and quickly distinguished themselves as a post-grunge counterpart to Slipknot's furious, percussion-heavy metal. Root and Taylor contacted original guitarist Josh Rand and bassist Shawn Economaki about recording a full-length Stone Sour album. The bandmates had already released several demos during their initial time together, and some of those songs were re-recorded for Stone Sour's self-titled debut, which earned two Grammy nominations and was RIAA-certified gold. Drafting in drummer Joel Ekman, the band released a song for the Spider-Man soundtrack ("Bother," credited only to Taylor) while recording the album in Los Angeles. A tour followed, and Stone Sour took a short break while Taylor and Root returned their attention to Slipknot for the recording of Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses.

Several years later, the band returned to the studio to work on a second album. The platinum-selling Come What(ever) May was produced by Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Velvet Revolver) and arrived in August 2006, hitting number four on the Billboard charts and spawning the successful single "Through Glass." Stone Sour hit the road that same year on the Family Values tour with high-profile headliners Deftones and Korn, and they released a digital concert album, Live in Moscow, in 2007. Once the touring was over, Taylor and Root shifted their focus to Slipknot once again, this time for the creation of 2008's chart-topping All Hope Is Gone.

Stone Sour's hiatus was shorter this time around, though, as the group returned in 2010 with a new album, Audio Secrecy, a more subdued effort that found the bandmembers maturing as songwriters. This trend continued into 2012 with their next release, House of Gold & Bones, Pt. 1, which would be the first part of an ambitious concept double album. In 2013, Stone Sour released the second part, House of Gold & Bones, Pt. 2. At this time, Root was noticeably absent from the group's touring lineup. His official departure from Stone Sour was confirmed later that year. A pair of covers EPs (Meanwhile in Burbank and Straight Outta Burbank) arrived in 2015, followed by the band's sixth full-length, 2017's Hydrograd. The first Stone Sour album without Root, the effort peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200. In 2019 the band issued the concert LP Hello, You Bastards: Live in Reno. ~ Bradley Torreano