Corey Taylor Suggests Slipknot Might Not Make as Much Money as You Think

In a new interview on the FeedbackDef podcast, Corey Taylor suggests that Slipknot may not be raking in the type of money you think they are. “Honestly, in a weird way, we don’t make a lot of money,” he says, touching on how some of the financials are broken down, but that they are still living comfortably.

“I mean, we make enough to live, obviously, and we can live comfortably, but we’ve never been offered massive deals,” Taylor continues (transcribed by Blabbermouth), “There’s a lot of us in the band, and there’s a whole crew that we have to pay.”

Listing other other aspects of the band’s business, he further breaks down, “There’s the production that we have to pay for. There’s all of this shit that we need to pay for. So at the end of the day, we are paid pretty much commensurate with what we are worth.”

Compared to other high-earning professionals, Taylor reasons, “We’ve never been even close to the big paydays that sports people get, actors — all of that shit. So in a weird way, we’re kind of — if you adjust for inflation, we’re upper middle class, basically.”

“We’re not extravagant. We’re not rich by any stretch of the means,” he clarifies, “but we do okay.”

As a father and a husband, being able to provide for his family and create a financially stable future is of utmost priority. “I can take care of my family. Their educations are good to go. I have insurance for all of my kids,” he says proudly, “And really, that’s it.”

READ MORE: Corey Taylor Says He’s Seen One Horror Movie More Than Any Other

Taylor credits to his career leaping around onstage, breaking bones, barking and singing in stuffy jumpsuits and sweaty masks, putting in intensely hard work for nearly a quarter of a century for his ability to secure that future.

Even so, at the level Slipknot exist at, there may have been opportunities along the way to further enrich the band’s members.

“Maybe it’s because we’re so reactionary. Maybe it’s because we are not palatable for a mass audience,” Taylor theorizes, citing a couple of reasons as to why Slipknot never broke through that next financial level.

Recognizing his band is very popular in the scene they exist in, there’s still a ceiling for the type of music Slipknot make.

“We appeal to our genre and people kind of on the outskirts of our genre, but that’s it. We appeal to a lot of them, so we do okay, but we’re never gonna see fucking Taylor Swift money, shit like that,” the singer admits, noting a rock stereotype, “So the misconception that all rock stars are just rolling in it, that’s not true. There’s a reason why we have to tour as much as we do, because that’s the only way we can actually pay our fucking bills.”

Listen to the full podcast below.

Taylor, who is always juggling a few other ventures outside of Slipknot, recently wrapped up a North American tour in support of his second solo album, CFM2. See upcoming dates here.

Corey Taylor on FeedbackDef Podcast