COREY TAYLOR On His COVID-19 Battle: It Was ‘The Sickest I’ve Ever Been In My Life’

BLABBERMOUTH.NET

Corey Taylor said that his breakthrough case of COVID-19 produced symptoms that made him "the sickest" he had ever been in his life, and he credited the vaccine for keeping him out of the hospital. The 47-year-old SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer, who is fully vaccinated, was forced to call off his appearance at a Michigan pop culture convention last month after testing positive for the coronavirus. Taylor discussed his COVID-19 battle during an appearance this past Tuesday (September 21) on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". Asked for an update on his health, he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I feel fine. I've been saying this since day one: thank God for vaxxes. Because it not only shortened it incredibly, but my recovery was nothing. I mean, I was sick [for a couple of] days — the sickest I've ever been in my life — and then, by the third night, I felt fine. And honestly, by the fourth day, had I not been testing positive, I would have gone back to the gym; I felt that good. And luckily, there was no lung issues, which would have screwed me, obviously. But, yeah, I'm doing great, man. "To anybody who has any doubts: don't listen to the [Nicki] Minajes of the world. The vaxx works. Okay? It worked for me, [and] it will work for you." Corey also talked about what it was like to return to the live stage with SLIPKNOT for the first time in 18 months on September 4 at the Rocklahoma festival in Pryor, Oklahoma. The gig marked the debut of Taylor's new mask, which he had been working on for the past few months. Speaking about how he prepared for the Rocklahoma gig, Corey said: "I basically just kind of went back to my normal workout. My cardio is anywhere from uphill for at least two miles or running for three miles. And then I weight train on top of that. But here's the reality of it, man: there's no way to properly train yourself for a SLIPKNOT show. We all were, like, 'Yeah, we're feeling great.' And then we got through that first show, and we were putty; we were just broken. Me and Jim [Root, SLIPKNOT guitarist] both looked at each other, and we were, like, 'God, what were we thinking? Oh my God.' 'Cause it's such a different energy… 'Cause you get on that stage with just absolutely all abandon, and we just went for it as hard as we could. We came offstage and none of us could move our necks. It was complete bedlam. "All you can do is just try to be as healthy as you can and then try to get as many shows under your belt as you can to get back into that mechanism, that muscle, basically," he added. Taylor, who spent a few days quarantining at a Denver hotel after his diagnosis, previously told Consequence Of Sound that he had no patience for people who knowingly expose others to the virus. "If you're going to put people at risk of getting sick, you shouldn't want to go to a show. That's common sense," he said. "And if you do put people at risk, then you're a fuckin' asshole. And you shouldn't be let in anyway." Corey completed the latest leg of his solo tour in support of his 2020 album "CMFT" on August 19 in Denver. Rapper Nicki Minaj sparked controversy earlier this month for suggesting the COVID-19 vaccine could cause reproductive issues. She tweeted that she wants to do more research before getting vaccinated and claimed that a friend of her cousin's had experienced adverse effects from it, which health officials have refuted.