Pepper Keenan | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Pepper J. Keenan |
Born | Oxford, Mississippi, U.S. | May 8, 1967
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Instruments |
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Years active | 1989–present |
Member of |
Pepper J. Keenan (born May 8, 1967) is an American guitarist and vocalist, best known for his work with heavy metal bands Corrosion of Conformity and Down. He joined Corrosion of Conformity in 1989, but did not become the lead singer until the recording of Deliverance in 1994. In 1991, Keenan formed Down with Phil Anselmo of Pantera, Jimmy Bower of Eyehategod, and Kirk Windstein and Todd Strange of Crowbar.
Keenan was born in Oxford, Mississippi, but now lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he owns a bar named "Le Bon Temps Roule". [1] His father, a former musician, is a local real estate appraiser in New Orleans.[ citation needed ] While developing his playing style in New Orleans, Pepper served as a member of local band Graveyard Rodeo, and met and became friends with Corrosion of Conformity during their frequent shows at the infamous Franklin Avenue VFW Hall in New Orleans.[ citation needed ]
Keenan joined Corrosion of Conformity in 1989. [2] Corrosion of Conformity released their third album, Blind , with Keenan on rhythm guitar. After Karl Agell and Phil Swisher left the band (Swisher being replaced by original bassist Mike Dean), Keenan took over on vocals and guitar. Corrosion of Conformity have since released the albums Deliverance , Wiseblood , America's Volume Dealer , and In the Arms of God , No Cross No Crown , as well as the live release Live Volume .
From 2006 to 2010, Corrosion of Conformity was on hiatus. The band later reunited and recorded two albums without Keenan, [3] however, he rejoined the group in 2015 and they performed their first show with the reunited Deliverance-era lineup of Keenan, Woody Weatherman, Mike Dean, and Reed Mullin in March 2015 in Manchester, England. [4] Their first U.S. tour with the reunited lineup, supporting Clutch, was announced in July 2015. [5] No Cross No Crown, the bands latest album to date, was released in 2018 and features Keenan on vocals and guitar.
Keenan was a founding member of Down in 1991 along with Pantera's Phil Anselmo, Eyehategod's Jimmy Bower, and Crowbar's Kirk Windstein and Todd Strange. In 1995, Down released their debut album, NOLA . The band went on indefinite hiatus in 1996 but returned three years later with Pantera bassist Rex Brown replacing Strange. In 2002, Down released their second album Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow . Following a second hiatus, Down released their third album entitled Down III: Over the Under in 2007. Down released their fourth album Down IV Part I – The Purple EP in September 2012 and Down IV – Part II of a four-part series of EPs.
Keenan plays guitar and sings a part of the second verse on Metallica's cover of the Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Tuesday's Gone". He also recorded a number of other songs in the same session, but this was the only one given a general release (on the album Garage Inc. ), the others only being available as bootlegs. Keenan is good friends with lead singer and guitarist James Hetfield. Hetfield provided backing vocals on "Man or Ash" from Corrosion of Conformity's Wiseblood . Keenan auditioned for Metallica's vacant bass player position following Jason Newsted's departure from the band but lost out to former Suicidal Tendencies/Ozzy Osbourne bassist Robert Trujillo. Keenan's audition is shown in the Metallica documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster . In addition to his contribution to the song "Tuesday's Gone" Pepper also appeared with Metallica onstage at the Download Festival in Donington, England in 2006 along with Matt Heafy of Trivium to provide additional vocals on the song "Die, Die My Darling" (a Misfits cover). This song was played at the end of Metallica's headlining set.
Keenan became the father of a daughter named Flannery Rose Keenan with his longtime girlfriend Anna Hrnjak on January 5, 2010. [6]
In an interview with Guitar.com, Keenan was asked about his thoughts on politics in which he responded "I mean, the Bible means a lot more to me than the Constitution and any fuckin' politics involved in this country or any other country." [7]
Keenan was featured with his 1955 Chevy "Gasser" in a television episode of Big Easy Motors .
Date of release | Title | Label | Chart positions |
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November 5, 1991 | Blind | Relativity Records | |
November 27, 1994 | Deliverance | Columbia Records | 155 |
October 12, 1996 | Wiseblood | 104 | |
October 10, 2000 | America's Volume Dealer | Sanctuary Records | |
August 7, 2001 | Live Volume | ||
April 5, 2005 | In the Arms of God | 108 | |
January 12, 2018 | No Cross No Crown | Nuclear Blast | 67 |
Date of release | Title | Label | US Billboard peak |
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September 19, 1995 | NOLA | Elektra | 57 |
March 26, 2002 | Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow | 44 | |
September 25, 2007 | Down III: Over the Under | Warner Bros. Records | 26 |
September 18, 2012 | Down IV – Part I | 35 | |
May 13, 2014 | Down IV – Part II | 23 |
Down is an American heavy metal supergroup that formed in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1991. The current lineup consists of vocalist Phil Anselmo, drummer Jimmy Bower, guitarists Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein (Crowbar), and bassist Pat Bruders (Goatwhore).
Philip Hansen Anselmo is an American heavy metal musician best known as the lead singer for Pantera, Down, and Superjoint, amongst other musical projects. He is the owner of Housecore Records.
Corrosion of Conformity is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina, formed in 1982. The band has undergone multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with lead guitarist Woody Weatherman as the sole constant member. Weatherman, founding bassist Mike Dean, founding drummer Reed Mullin and vocalist/rhythm guitarist Pepper Keenan are widely regarded as its "classic" lineup. After a hiatus in 2006, Corrosion of Conformity returned in 2010 without Keenan, who had been busy touring and recording with Down, but announced their reunion with him in December 2014. More lineup changes have happened since then, with John Green replacing Mullin after his death in 2020 and Dean departing from the band once again in 2024.
Crowbar is an American sludge metal band formed in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1990. The band is fronted by vocalist/guitarist Kirk Windstein, Crowbar's sole constant member.
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster is a 2004 American documentary film about American heavy metal band Metallica. The film follows the band from 2001 to 2003, a turbulent period in the band's history which included the production of their 2003 album St. Anger, frontman James Hetfield entering into rehab for alcoholism and the departure of bassist Jason Newsted as well as the hiring of his replacement Robert Trujillo. The title of the film comes from a song from St. Anger.
Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow is the second studio album by American band Down, released on March 26, 2002. The subtitle "A Bustle in Your Hedgerow" is borrowed from the lyrics of "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin.
Rex Robert Brown is an American musician. He is the longtime bassist for heavy metal band Pantera, having joined the band in 1982. Following the band's reunion in 2022, Brown is the longest-serving member of the band. He is also a former member of the supergroup Down (2001–2011) and a former bassist for Kill Devil Hill. He released his debut solo album Smoke on This… in 2017. For the first time in Brown's career, the work features him not only as a bassist but also as lead vocalist and guitarist.
Eyehategod is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana who formed in 1988. They have become one of the better known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene. Their core lineup has remained consistent since the band's inception, with the exception of the bassist, until the death of drummer Joey LaCaze in 2013. As of 2021, the band has released six studio albums.
The ESP Viper is an electric guitar manufactured by ESP Guitars. The ESP Viper has a shape similar to that of a Gibson SG, with slight variations; Vipers have a slight diagonal slope at the bottom and an asymmetrical front profile. The body is mahogany or alder. The neck is three pieces, with a rosewood fingerboard. As standard, it comes fitted with an EMG 81/85 pickup set. It has a scale length of 24.75".
Exhorder is an American heavy metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana. They are considered progenitors of the groove-oriented thrash sound later made famous by bands such as Pantera and Machine Head, and their music has been regarded as a large influence on the New Orleans metal scene. Initially active from 1985 to 1994 and reformed from 2008 to 2011, Exhorder has since reformed in 2017. To date, the band has released four studio albums: Slaughter in the Vatican (1990), The Law (1992), Mourn the Southern Skies (2019) and Defectum Omnium (2024).
Kirk Michael Windstein is an American musician. He is the frontman, vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and sole constant member of the sludge metal band Crowbar. He is also a founding member of the heavy metal supergroup Down, playing guitar with them from 1991 to 2013 and later rejoining the band in 2020. In 2005, Windstein formed Kingdom of Sorrow with Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed. Their debut album was released in 2008. Windstein began his musical career in 1985 as a guitarist for a cover band called Victorian Blitz, and in 1988 joined a hardcore punk band called Shell Shock as a vocalist and guitarist.
Deliverance is the fourth album by Corrosion of Conformity, and the first on which Pepper Keenan was lead singer. It was also their first recording on Columbia Records. Kerrang! described Deliverance as a "true 90s classic". The song "Mano de Mono" is heard in the movie The Fan. The song "Albatross" is playable in the video game Guitar Hero: Metallica and Guitar Hero Live.
Blind is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Corrosion of Conformity, released on November 5, 1991 via Relativity Records. The album saw the band change their crossover thrash sound of the 1980s to a more straightforward metal sound.
Clearlight is an American instrumental rock band from New Orleans, Louisiana. They are also known as the Mystick Krewe of Clearlight due to other bands using the same original name.
Wiseblood is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Corrosion of Conformity. It was released on October 15, 1996 by Columbia Records, the band's second and final album for the label. Its name comes from the novel Wise Blood, written by Southern Gothic author Flannery O'Connor. Metallica's lead vocalist James Hetfield provides backing vocals on "Man or Ash". The song "Drowning in a Daydream" was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 40th Grammy Awards ceremony. The album had sold 130,000 copies by 1999, selling less than Blind and Deliverance.
John Custer is an American record producer and musician. He produced the Grammy-nominated "Drowning in a Daydream" by Corrosion of Conformity and their fourth album, Deliverance, which is a gold album. Additionally, he has produced #1 songs on the Billboard charts and The Album Network charts as well as Hall of Fame inducted albums in national and worldwide music press. In 2014, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Carolina Music Awards. He has been called the "Indestructible Godfather of the NC Music Industry".
Live Volume is a live album by American heavy metal band Corrosion of Conformity, released on August 7, 2001. It was recorded on April 20, 2001, at the Harpos Concert Theatre in Detroit, Michigan.
No Cross No Crown is the tenth studio album by American heavy metal band Corrosion of Conformity, released on January 12, 2018 by Nuclear Blast. This is the only album to feature the "classic" lineup of Woody Weatherman, Mike Dean, Reed Mullin and Pepper Keenan since America's Volume Dealer (2000). It is also the last album to feature Mullin, who died in early 2020, and the last to feature founding bassist Mike Dean, who exited the band in 2024.
"Albatross" is a song by American heavy metal band Corrosion of Conformity. It was released as the lead single from the band's fourth studio album, Deliverance. Written by vocalist/guitarist Pepper Keenan and drummer Reed Mullin, "Albatross" was a hit on rock radio, peaking at No. 19 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. The song is the band's highest charting single along with "Clean My Wounds", which also peaked at No. 19.
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