Corey Taylor took a break from Slipknot last week to pay tribute to the victims of the chaos at rapper Travis Scott Astroworld , who died during a mass stampede.
During a show at the Welcome To Rockville last Thursday, the 11th, Taylor commented on the tragedy and dedicated the moment to the eight confirmed fatalities at the time. “One of the wonderful things about this genre [metal], about this audience, about this family is that we take care of each other. This should be a place of celebration, of love, and of caring for each other,” he began (via Blabbermouth ). “And everyone who’s ever been in a fucking mosh pit knows: if someone falls, you pick them up again!”
The Slipknot vocalist took the opportunity to draw the audience's attention to the importance of ensuring the safety of the community at events. "So, I want everyone to hold on to the memory of those eight souls we lost. But I also want you to remember this: no matter what show you go to, if you have eyes, you keep them open, you keep them focused, and you take care of others," he concluded.
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What happened at Astroworld?
The Astroworld rap festival takes place annually in Houston, Texas (USA), organized and headlined by Travis Scott. During the musician's performance earlier this month, on November 5th, a stampede in the audience resulted in hundreds of people being trampled, with 10 fatalities – some died on the day of the event, while others were hospitalized in serious condition. The youngest victim was a 9-year-old boy who was at the event with his father.
There are still no conclusive results from the investigation to determine what caused the mass movement of the audience, but it wasn't a mosh pit. “The crowd got increasingly cramped, and at that point, it was difficult to breathe. When Travis appeared singing his first song, I witnessed people fainting next to me. We were all screaming for help, and nobody was helping or listening to us. It was horrible. People were screaming for their lives and couldn't get out. Nobody could move a muscle,” a fan present at the event told CNN .
Watch Corey Taylor's speech below.
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