Korn Guitarist Finds God, Leaves Band

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I saw this. I think Korn is crap, but I think it's cool he became a Christian. (Hopefully he goes to a good, Bible-based church.)
 
:up: Good for him, not many people are willing to give up the rock n' roll lifestyle. It's a rare gem of news, hopefully Korn fans won't hate the guy.

(I think he should still play music, but with a band that has a more positive message)
 
The following was posted on the Passion Breeds Followers (a Scott Stapp) board by rulzo529:

Brian 'Head' Welch Leaves Korn, Citing Moral Objections To Band's Music
Guitarist plans to further explain his decision to a church congregation in Bakersfield, California, on Sunday.

Guitarist Brian "Head" Welch, a founding member of Korn, has left the band and has rededicated his life to Christianity, according to the group's management.

"Korn has parted ways with guitarist Brian 'Head' Welch, who has chosen Jesus Christ
as his savior, and will be dedicating his musical pursuits to that end," a statement from the band reads. "Korn respects Brian's wishes, and hopes he finds the happiness he's searching for."

The announcement puts to rest weeks of rumors that Welch was unhappy with Korn's direction. On February 8, he had apparently written a "letter of resignation" to the band's management. In the note, Welch detailed a long list of reasons for leaving the band, including increased moral objections to Korn's music and videos. In particular, he was upset by how he was portrayed in the clip for their cover of Cameo's "Word Up," off their recently released Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 album. In the video, Welch's face was superimposed on a dog patrolling a strip club.

Welch plans on further explaining his decision to leave Korn this coming Sunday, when he'll address the congregation at the Valley Bible Fellowship in Bakersfield, California. And on February 28 he plans to leave for Israel.

Korn formed in 1992 as the Bakersfield metal act LAPD, which featured Welch and guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer, bassist Reggie "Fieldy" Arvizu and drummer David Silveria. In 1993, vocalist Jonathan Davis joined the group, and they rechristened themselves Korn. Their self-titled 1994 debut went double platinum and was hailed as a landmark album in the burgeoning nü-metal scene. The group released six studio albums with Welch, sales of which have topped the 11-million mark in the U.S. alone. Their final album with Welch, Take a Look in the Mirror, was released in 2003.

According to Korn's management, the band is currently in the studio working on a new record, which is due in stores in September.

http://passionbreedsfollowers.com/bb/showthread.php?t=4462
 
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A_Wanderer said:
Theres a band :huh:
Click to expand...

Yeah, been around a number of years, the lead singer's married to Gwen Stefani. Did a really good song called "Glycerine", too.

Anywho, as I said in the other thread, if that's what makes him happy, then so be it. I'm also glad that he's not trying to force his bandmates to change their lifestyles-he's doing what works for him, and letting them go on their own way. I like that.

Angela
 
I agree, if this is what makes him happy, it's cool. When you think about it the "rock 'n roll lifestyle" is pretty stressy and exhausting. I'd hate it.
 
Korn is a guilty pleasure of mine.

Head is a very talented player - sad to see him go.

Also one of only a few people (besides the other Korn guitarist) who plays a 7-strign guitar.

It is a loss
 
I knew a family with the surname Korn....always thought they shoulda named one of their girls Candy.... :huh:
 
Ok, I saw a link to this at www.relevantmagazine.com. I've never liked Korn, but I must admit this guy has a level of integrity that's put me in check.


On Tuesday, Korn's management made a formal announcement that guitarist Brian "Head" Welch was leaving the band to rededicate his life to Christianity. On Thursday night, in an effort to explain his decision to both his fans and his former bandmates,

"I love everybody in the band — I was afraid to leave. It made me sad to think that I would be hurting the band if I left. For the last year and a half, I wanted to leave, but someone would always talk to me and convince me to stay," Welch said. "But I've had a problem with the way things were going since the second record. I mean, we would do things, and I would be like, 'Oh, this is metal! This is the rock and roll life!' But inside, I thought they took it too far. It was a little too crude for me."

Welch said that the statement issued by Korn's management company blew things out of proportion, and that his newfound spirituality was just another step on his path of self-discovery (see "Brian 'Head' Welch Leaves Korn, Citing Moral Objections To Band's Music"). It wasn't the reason he left Korn — the band he helped form in 1993, a band that's sold more than 11 million records in the U.S. He left because he had become sick of "chasing the almighty buck," and felt that being respected by his young daughter was more important than being rich.

"I have a 6-year-old daughter, and I want her to be able to look me in the eye. I'm a single dad, that's what it comes down to," he said. "And the guys were really accommodating when I would tell them that. They'd be like, 'Bring your daughter on tour! We'll work the tour around you.' But that's not the place for a 6-year-old. She would be sitting backstage sometimes, just counting dollars. Because Fieldy would tell her, 'Every time you hear a curse word, you'll get a dollar. It will help us stop cursing.' And at the end of the day, she'd turn to me and be like, 'Look at all my money, Daddy!' "

So after a weekend of soul-searching, coupled with reading from a Bible his friend had leant him, Welch decided it was time to go. And his decision was not a popular one with his bandmates.

"I think it made the guys mad. It confused them. I left at the worst possible time. We got off Sony, and all the money was there, we were going to own all of our songs, but I had to prove to myself that money wasn't my God," he said. "I talked to Jonathan [Davis] and he said, 'I don't get it, man, you're all happy and we're sitting here grieving because our band is breaking up. And I wanted to tell him, 'Well, for years, you guys were out partying while I was sitting on the tour bus wanting to die.' "

Welch also said that for the past month, he's been trying to reach out to the other members of Korn, but has gotten little response. He said he spent his final days in Korn talking with bassist Fieldy, and had even mentioned the songs he'd been recording on his own, which reflected his growing spirituality. Fieldy was less than receptive.

"I just asked Fieldy if he'd be interested in producing some of the stuff I've been working on, but he hasn't called me back in weeks," Welch said. "I mean, I was saying some stuff to him during my final days in Korn, some crazy stuff. But since I've left the band, I've heard nothing from him at all."

Welch's solo material — which will be released under the name "Head" — will not be Christian music. Rather, he said, he wants it to be an "extension of the Korn family."

"I always loved that Korn's music helped kids let out aggression. But with my new music, I want kids to know that there's more out there," he said. "I want to show them there's a light at the end of the pain tunnel. That there's more out there than just aggression. I want to say to them, 'Hey kids, come over here. Let's bounce back and forth and have fun.' "

And yes, Welch does plan on speaking on Sunday at the Valley Bible Fellowship. He's just not certain what he's going to say. He's just going to speak from the heart. And he wants his fans to know that even if they can't make it out to Bakersfield, California, to hear him speak, they can check out his message on his new Web site — www.HeadToChrist.com — which launches Friday (February 25).

"Man, when I get up there onstage, it's going to be me just letting things flow. I have no idea what I'm going to say, it's just going to come out," he said. "I mean, I'm going to be like a kid up there. Because that's really what I am now. I'm a baby Christian."
 
I just hope this chruch is not the kind of poisonous back mushroom springing up over this great land....the kind that passes out voting guides, has the pastor preaching sermons printed by Focus on the Family, and calls the Christian Coalition its spiritual leader.

In short, one of the quasi-political outposts that is hostile to progressive social legislation and is meddling in politics in a very public way, where it doesn't belong. One that advoctes turning this country into a theocracy, and has little stomach or patience with Christ's teachings about the poor, the sick, and the outcast.

I am a Christian (have been since 1988, although I felt God calling me much earlier) but some of the things I am seeing right now, and done "in the name of righteousness and truth"--torture, in the name of God?--make me ashamed to be one. I'm sorry, I can't seperate one from the other. I have first hand knowledge of these things.

The Bible study group that I joined was my own little Shalom. The youth group leader went around telling his eager young students about how rock was the music of the Devil, and how he threw out all his old records. (Curiously, he said U2 were Christian though.) 5 months later, there they were, standing at the move theater, chanting and burning posters in a "Last Temptation of Christ" protest. I'll never forget the fanaticism on their faces--it scared me to death. The thing was, I had a job in the colege library at the time, and just by chance I saw a copy of the book lying on the table and curious of the title, I had read it. I was shocked, but aso deeply moved....the language had a Tolkienian beauty. And I was also made clear that none of what happened in the story wa literal; the whole take was a tormented vision presented to Jesus on the Cross in His moment of despair. Just another test for Him. I had read the book months before the controversy started. I asked the U2-loving youth group leader if he wanted to read it. I said he didn't have to agree with it--I told him I certainly didnt'--but I said i was the principle of finding out for yourself, on your own, and not settling for what someone else tells you. Wasn't that wh Protestantism existed? B/c Luter wanted people to be able to read and interpret the Bible themselves, instead of blindly trusting whatever spin the local prest gave on it to suit the occasion? Knowledge is power, I said to him. Hey, I can just let you borrow it.

I'll never forget the look he gave me. it wasn't so mcuh a look, as it was a drawing away from me, as if I was unclean, a disease germ. From that day on, he shunned me. I think he must have liked me, b/c he didn't tell anyone else what I said. But from then on, I knew I could not remain in that fellowship.

Over the yrs, I went through 3 more churches like that. And 2 of them were the type that Bush gets his constuency from. All seemed to be upper middle class, suburban, white, and not very invloved in humantirian projects that TRULY reached out to the downtrodden except in a sort of "hollywood charity tea party" way.

Like the people featured on Time's cover. I noticed none of them was cited for a humanitarian project..only politics, literature, economics, law, etc. Where the TRUE Chruch want to have the most influence..

Darn it, the Chruch is NOT supposed to organzie political groups and form specal intrest lobbies and bombard the media and control the national agenda! It's supremely ironic that while we are trying to make Iraq a secular democratic nation, the mullahs are taking over at home.

This is NOT the way the Spirit moved in the early 70's, or the 80s. People then were concrned only wth saving souls. The political looney tunes had their pet projects, but they stayed hidden. Or
stole money ffrom the sick and the old" on TV, s Bono so memeorably used to say onstage. (now those people have taken over.)

They're the kind of people who "converted" Mel Gibson. Great that he has found the Lord....not so good that he has absorbed so much of the open bigotry and narrow-mindedness of the crowd that converted him--who it was was evident by the exclusve guest list he premered TP o--(as I personally experienced in those 2 other groups). (Believe me, I didn't go into The Passion prepared for bigotry. I thought the 'controversy" was hot air. Until I couldn't help but notice that not only was there not one good Jewish character in the film, but just the opposite: Ciaphas remains stony-faced and filled with gleeful hate, right up till the end..Gibson makes a special case of having him leer up at the suffering Christ rght on the cross, so that you HAD to hate him. My God, this is turning into a rant...

I wish him well, and God bless him. I just literally hope to Christ that he is not going to get an earful of political crap about how he has repented from his sinful liberal ways, and used as some sort of poltcal example and tool. It seems the "liberal" churches are content to remain modest and discreet, and do the Lord's TRUE will. Any of this "we are repenting for America's sins in the Clinton years" crap turns my stomach, because so much of the time, the biggest liars and frauds and servants of Satan go around preaching how righteous and holy they are. How THEIR agenda is God' will and the other side is doomed to hell. It's like hey have to say this extra loud to cover up their own sinful ways and sneaky agenda.

While the BEST Christians always are humble creatures who are continully say they are always stumbling and falling and picking themselves up and how they can never be good enough. In other words: don't trust me, don't follow me, I'm not a great example. They are an inspiring example. Do any of these groups do that? No, THEIR word is the right way. Just like what Bono siad in the NY Times article. In his genuine grace and humility before the Lord, he deflects attention away from himself, diminishing himself in the process, and drawing our attention only to what should be seen. Another reason why Bono is such a great example, and so many of these "holy" people deep down know it--witness how so much of Church Dubya's people are fascinated with him.

Sorry if this was a rant, but the last high-profile "converson" we had was Mel's, and look at the result: a second "Birth of a Nation" --technically brilliant, deeply moving, obvously the product of somone burned with the Fire....but also a racist piece of crap. Compare it with U2's music...men who knew what kind of place they were in, and knew where to draw the line.

One can only imagine what Bono and Edge are thinking of this. They'll have certainly heard of it by tomorrow, in the LA rehearsals.

Remember, Edge was ready to quit U2, and it's a measure of Bono's goodness that he didn't try to stop Edge, he just told him to do whatever his heart told him to. Edge said he needed 2 weeks to think (read: pray) about it, and for 2 weeks in 1981 nobody knew if u2 would go on. I imagine Edge will be thinking of this guy. maybe Edge should talk to him? Will Bono be tempted to call this guy up? I don't imagine he is into Korn any more than he was into G N'R. But this stuff interests him. If I was him, I'd say, "Congrads, and God bless, that you're invited Jesus into your life. But make sure that you read the Bible on your own, and stay away from outside influences. This is a delicate time for you, beset with snares. Satan will seek to distract you, and one of those ways is trying to get you to be concerned with other unimportant things. You came to Him of your own free wll, and you must contnue to seek HIm with humility and with an open heart. This is a private conversation that should be goig on between you and Him and no-one else. Don't let anyone tell you what is right and wrong, and above all, DON'T get caught up in extemporaneous things..unless it is to help the poor and downtrodden." ect.

The best thing, really, for him right now is just to stop his life and go on a retreat. Seriously. Just him, his Bible, a great work of thelogy like "The Imitation of Christ", and the wilderness. There was a reason people became hermits. Too much crap coming at you from all sides. Seclusion at a delicate time like this is the most precious thing. The last thing this guy needs is a bunch of "advisers." You need to establsh your own personal languge wth God. I wonder, has he gotten the whole works, glossolalia and all? People tell you that fellowship is the best thing right now, but it's not. I leanred that the hard way. You need to establish your independence wth God, your own private language with Him, before allowing others to step in....
 
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Wow, Teta, that's quite a story.

It really sucks that there's people like those fanatics you described out there, 'cause they tend to cast a bad shadow on their religion in general, and that's not fair to those who aren't like that, who actually, you know, respect other people's beliefs and don't go around burning books and records and posters that dare disagree with their ideals (have we learned nothing from Hitler's days? My god, I can't believe people still do that).

The ironic part is that they claim to be following Jesus so devoutly and everything...truth be told, if he knew how they were acting, he would be very sad, because he would never have acted that way. He would've hung out with those "devilish" rockers, he would've listened to people whose views differed from his, etc., etc.

Yeah. It can get pretty scary sometimes, the fanaticism. And I'm sorry you had some bad experiences with it :hug:.

Angela
 
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