While discussing music on his podcast, Kevin Nash stated that, despite living and breathing Tupac and Death Row Records, he still bought music from other genres during his wrestling prime. This included a CD by the band Korn, after friends urged him to check out the rising nu-metal act. However, the WWE Hall of Famer admitted that after just 30 seconds of listening, he ejected the disc and hurled it out the window of his Lincoln, completely uninterested. Years later, Nash finally gave the nu-metal pioneers another chance and openly admitted he should have listened longer.
“Back when music came out, I would go to either Best Buy or Circuit City. Because I was making coin, when the new CDs dropped, I’d buy 12 or 14 CDs. I’d buy whatever was out because I was going on the road. I just remember everybody was telling me about Korn, and I was driving. I was by myself, and I was in a Lincoln Continental. It was one of those deals where I was so into, at that time of my life, I was so into Tupac and that whole Death Row sound that Korn was so far from my… I listened to like 30 seconds of it, ejected it, put the window down, and slung it out the window. Like, no … Then two years later I actually heard two or three cuts, and I said, ‘Oh, I guess I should have gave it a chance.’” – Kevin Nash
Korn exploded into the mainstream in 1998 with the release of their groundbreaking third album, Follow the Leader. While their 1994 self-titled debut and 1996’s Life Is Peachy had already built a fierce underground following and helped shape the nu-metal sound, it was this record that propelled them to global superstardom. Debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling millions worldwide, and delivering massive hits like “Freak on a Leash” and “Got the Life,” the album transformed Korn from cult favorites into one of the biggest rock acts of the late ’90s, which is exactly when they first landed on Nash’s radar.
