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Brian Welch
Guitarist of KoЯn

About Brian Welch

Brian "Head" Welch is the guitarist and founding member of the Nu-Metal band KoЯn. He was born on June 19th, 1970 in Torrance, California. Welch is one of the most known metal guitarists, writing some of the most popular and recognizable Nu-Metal guitar riffs. He has been playing guitar for more than 40 years, starting at the young age of 10. Many give credit to him and his bandmates for pioneering the music genre Nu Metal, which started around the late 1980s. He is a father of 2, and currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

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Korn (Self Titled)
KoЯn

KoЯn's debut studio album came out in October of 1994 after being a work in progress for roughly 5 months. Before recording the album, the band was approached by Immortal Records after playing a show in Huntington Beach, California. There are 12 tracks on the album, with 2 hidden tracks included in some of the main songs. The album has a theme of childhood trauma, bullying, and drug abuse. Their producer, Ross Robinson had also produced their 1993 demo "Neidermayer's Mind." The album launched, and soon it was an international sensation. It reached Canadian Top 15 Alternative Records, Top 10 New Zealand Records, and 72 on Billboard 200. The album sold around 2.1 million copies in the US by 2003, and many think this album was the start of Nu-Metal itself. The album was recorded with all members playing instruments simultaneously instead of separately. Bands like Limp Bizkit and Coal Chamber were heavily inspired by the albums intensity combined with hip-hop elements.

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Life Is Peachy
KoЯn

Life Is Peachy is KoЯn's second studio album, which came out in October of 1996. The album has a theme of drugs, sex, social encounters, childhood trauma, betrayal, and revenge. The album has 14 tracks, including the hidden track "Lowrider", a cover from the song by the band War. The album made it even bigger than the band's debut album "Korn" which led them to lots of touring and building an insanely big fanbase. The album made it to #3 on Billboard 200, and #1 in New Zealand. In the first week, it sold 106,000 copies in the US, and went double platinum in 1997. This album got KoЯn some crazy tours, including Limp Bizkit and Metallica. The band was also included in 1997 Lollapalooza Summer Tour. The band later earned a Kerrang! award for best album, and a nomination for best metal performance at the 40th annual Grammy Awards.

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Follow The Leader
KoЯn

Follow The Leader is KoЯn's third and most popular studio album, which released in August of 1998. The album reached #1 on four national charts, and sold 268,000 copies in the US within its first week of release. The RIAA certified it platinum 5 times. The "Family Values" tour was used as a promotion for the albums 5 singles, which KoЯn was accompanied by Limp Bizkit on. The song "Freak on a Leash" was nominated for nine MTV Video Music Awards, and won in 2 categories. The song also won Best Edited Music Video at the 2000 Grammy Awards. Follow The Leader includes many guest singers, such as Ice Cube in the song "Children of the Korn", Pharcyde's Tre Hardson on "Cameltosis", Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst on "All in the Family", and Cheech Marin of Cheech & Chong on the hidden track "Earache my Eye." During the recording of the album, the band members were under the influence of multiple hard drugs including methamphetamine, cocaine, and heavy abuse of alcohol (specifically Jack Daniel's.)

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Issues
KoЯn

Issues is KoЯn's 4th studio album, and a common favorite across their fanbase. The album was released in November of 1999 shortly after KoЯn hosted their MTV art contest to pick an album cover. Issues is a very different album than their first 3, which introduced KoЯn fans to a whole new world. The album has 16 tracks with a theme of suicide, self image, and drug abuse. The album was unsurprisingly a hit, reaching #1 on Billboard 200 and preventing Dr. Dre and Celine Dion from getting #1. One month after its release, Issues became a certified triple platinum record, and sold millions of copies worldwide. On Billboard's end of the year chart, Issues was #19. Before the release of Issues, the band had released their hit single "Falling Away from Me" as a free MP3 and told their fans to sign the "I got KoЯn's new single for free" guestbook. For every sign, KoЯn donated $0.25 to 2 charities for children. The fundraiser raised over $250,000.

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Untouchables
KoЯn

Untouchables is KoЯn's 5th studio album, and Brian Welch's last album with the band, as he left in 2005 due to personal issues. He rejoined in 2013, and the band was back to normal. Untouchables was released in June of 2002, and has 14 tracks on it with the common theme of mental trauma, despair, and grief. The album was yet another hit, selling 495,991 copies within the first week of release. It reached #2 on Billboard 200, only being second to Eminem's "The Eminem Show." During the recording of Untouchables, the band members has lots of creative differences which lead to a lot of tension between everyone. At one point they even considered firing their bassist, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu due to his drug addiction, but they decided not to. Internet piracy was on the rise at this time, so the band didn't earn a good chunk of money due to third party services reuploading the album with different song names and orders. This also happened to the band System of a Down when they released their album "Steal this album."