BRIAN “HEAD” WELCH, was born June 19, 1970 and grew up in
Bakersfield, California. He found his calling at age eleven when he picked up
his first guitar. Voracious practicing and a steady diet of hard rock classics
filled in the ensuing years, and shortly after high school, he co-founded a
metal band named Korn. The band soon became a Grammy award-winning,
multi-platinum force that shot to the top tier of the rock world and
dominated the new metal movement of the late Nineties. Korn’s 1998
Follow the Leader album cemented the band as rock titans when they
debuted at number one on the Billboard charts, fighting off new releases
from mainstream heavyweights Dr. Dre and Celine Dion. For his efforts
with Korn, Head received six Grammy nominations, winning two, while
selling some 40 million records worldwide.
As Korn continued to reach new creative and commercial heights, Head
found himself drowning in the excesses of rock and roll. Far from immune
to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Head became addicted to
crystal meth, spiraling out of control even as he continued to sell millions of
albums. He gamely but unsuccessfully tried to balance his career and his
obligations as a single father to his daughter Jennea. In 2005, he finally
resigned from Korn and turned to Christianity, dedicating his life to giving
his gifts to those most desperately in need. Just months after his Korn
exodus, Head traveled to India to open up his first “Head Home,” an
orphanage that provides housing, food, and education to some 200 orphans
in the most unreachable parts of India. His philanthropic efforts continue to
give relief to those in need throughout the United States and other parts of
the world.
Though no longer a part of Korn, Head was not retired from music and
began work on his solo debut. The final product, Save Me from Myself, put
the music world on notice that he was very much alive and that his music
was as potent as ever. He continues to record and release vital music that
attracts fans of hard rock, Christian rock, and the legions of Korn devotees
that continue to support his career.
Having achieved so much after hitting such emotionally-pulverizing lows,
Head realized that an honest, no-holds-barred account of his life before and
after Korn could be a tremendous benefit to those struggling with substance
abuse, despair, and crises of faith. To that end, he penned his 2007
autobiography, Save Me from Myself (HarperCollins). The book quickly
landed on the New York Times bestseller list, inspiring him to follow it up
with a second book, Washed by Blood (2008, HarperCollins).
In December, 2010, Head released Stronger: Forty Days of Metal and
Spirituality by HarperCollins, a forty-day devotional of selected scriptures
that have given him strength during his greatest challenges. Head speaks
candidly about his continued bouts of depression and his struggles with
darker impulses as he comes to terms with his faith-based life, finding
guidance and inspiration in the scriptural passages in the book. Stronger
uses both Old and New Testament wisdom to outline practical applications
to virtually every situation and decision he faces in life.
Head continues to create explosive music, pursue his wide-ranging
philanthropic missions and to strive to be the best father he can be for his
beloved daughter.