Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch has appeared on a Christian talk show, where he spoke about being attacked by conservative members of the Christian church for his role in the band.

Welch famously left Korn in 2005 after becoming a born-again Christian, saying at the time he had “chosen the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior, and will be dedicating his musical pursuits to that end.”

He released a solo album in 2008 titled Save Me From Myself, but rejoined Korn in 2013, a move that saw him greeted with anger by religious types.

“I went through a religious mindset before too, and I remember I told the bass player in Korn, I was, like, ‘How can you go and play those songs, bro? You should come with me. We’ll do something else on our own,’ So I get that.

“I wasn’t bashing him like people do online, but I get that mindset, so I try not to get too mad. But when they attack you, it gets really discouraging, and it’s hard not to get bitter and mad at ’em. But I just try to encourage people to just zip it, man, ’cause if you’re not loving, then you’re missing it all.”

He continued: “You know, ‘love is patient, love is kind,’ Paul says in First Corinthians Thirteen, and not rude. And they’re all rude on there doing it. And so I call ’em keyboard gangsters, ’cause they’re behind the keyboard computer and they would never talk like that to people’s face. But online, they’re [vicious]. And so it’s just really discouraging.

Welch finished his heavy metal sermon with some advice.

“I would just say, you guys should just, you’ve gotta break through that, man. This is all about love, and it’s, like, let the Lord teach ’em slowly through scripture and everything what to let go of in their lives and the timing. Maybe it’ll take years for some people to let go of things, but we’ve gotta give ’em patience.”

Watch the entire interview below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfYPSpq6Faw

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.
to Rolling Stone magazine
to Rolling Stone magazine