Formation and early years (1992–1997) Stone Sour was founded by Corey Taylor, who later became the vocalist of
Slipknot, and former drummer Joel Ekman. The band's name comes from a cocktail menu at a local bar. Taylor's longtime friend Shawn Economaki joined shortly after, and filled in as the
bass player. During these formative years, Stone Sour recorded two demo tapes, in 1993 and 1994. In 1995, Jim Root, who is now part of Slipknot with Taylor, joined the band. In 1996, this lineup recorded another demo tape, songs from which would be used in 2002 on their
self-titled debut album. In 1997, the band went on hiatus, during which Taylor and Root spent most of their time with Slipknot, who were another up-and-coming act in Des Moines and would soon earn a record deal.
Stone Sour and hiatus (2000–2004) After Josh Rand joined the band, the band recorded their debut
self-titled album in
Cedar Falls. Upon release, the album charted at number 46 on the
Billboard 200. The song "
Bother", which was featured on the
Spider-Man soundtrack (credited only to Taylor), The next single, "
Inhale", peaked at 18 on the Mainstream Rock chart. The album was released on August 1, 2006. It was met with positive reviews from critics, and sold 80,000 copies in the first week, allowing it to debut at number four on the
Billboard 200.
Audio Secrecy (2009–2011) The band's third album
Audio Secrecy, and released on September 7, 2010. Stone Sour played the first annual Rockstar Energy Drink
Uproar Festival with
Avenged Sevenfold and Hollywood Undead among others. Stone Sour set the release date of
Audio Secrecy as September 7. Stone Sour were part of the
Soundwave Festival in late February/early March in Australia 2011. Stone Sour headlined The Avalanche Tour in 2011, supported by
Theory of a Deadman,
Skillet,
Halestorm and
Art of Dying. It was also announced that a Stone Sour live DVD will be released, filmed at the Brighton Centre in the United Kingdom. The band toured with
Avenged Sevenfold,
New Medicine and
Hollywood Undead on the "Nightmare After Christmas Tour" 2011. On April 16, 2011, it was announced that bassist Shawn Economaki had left the tour for personal reasons.
Jason Christopher, who had played with
Corey Taylor previously during his solo performances and with the
Junk Beer Kidnap Band, filled in for the tour. In May 2011, Stone Sour canceled the remaining dates from their headline tour as drummer
Roy Mayorga suffered a minor stroke. He made a full recovery. The band played their last show of 2011 at the second day of the
Rock in Rio IV festival, which took place in
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, between September 23 – October 2. Drummer
Roy Mayorga was not present at the show as he was expecting his first child back home, and filling-in for him was
Dream Theater and
The Winery Dogs drummer
Mike Portnoy.
House of Gold & Bones (2012–2013) The band released a song called "The Pessimist" as a free download on their Facebook page on March 27, 2012. The song was previously only available on the
iTunes deluxe version of the
soundtrack to Transformers: Dark of the Moon. They also released their first DVD Live at Brighton in the same year, capturing their performance on November 7, 2010. It was announced via Instagram on May 3, 2012, that bassist Shawn Economaki had parted ways with the band on amicable terms. He was replaced in the studio by current
Skid Row bassist
Rachel Bolan. Stone Sour started recording their fourth studio album in early 2012. Corey Taylor stated that the album would end up being a
double album or
concept album, and described the album's sound as "
Pink Floyd's
The Wall meets
Alice in Chains's
Dirt". It was later announced that the new material would be released as two separate albums. The first album,
House of Gold & Bones – Part 1 was released worldwide on October 23, 2012, and the second album
House of Gold & Bones – Part 2 was released worldwide on April 9, 2013. The project also has a 4-part graphic novel series that accompanies the albums, telling the linear storyline featured in the twin albums' lyrics. The first two songs from
Part 1, "Gone Sovereign" and the first official single, "Absolute Zero" were released for radio airplay in mid/late August 2012. The first single from
House of Gold & Bones Part 2 was "Do Me a Favor". It was released digitally on February 12. Guitarist Josh Rand stated in an interview with O2 Academy that there was a song recorded for Part 1, an instrumental which was deemed 'not up to par' by the band. The song will likely be released in the future once James Root and Josh Rand do 'some stuff to it guitar-wise'. On October 5, 2012, Johny Chow of
Fireball Ministry and
Cavalera Conspiracy was announced as the bassist for the band on the
House of Gold & Bones tour cycle. Stone Sour subsequently played Soundwave Festival 2013 in Australia and on the Sunday at Download Festival 2013. Guitarist
James Root did not tour with Stone Sour in the winter of 2013, as he had to take a brief hiatus from the group to work on
.5: The Gray Chapter with
Slipknot, although it was later revealed that he was fired from the band due to musical differences. He claimed that the band wanted to focus on "radio play and money," which Root fought against, leading to his departure.
The Burbank EP duology (2014–2016) On October 5, 2014, it was announced via Stone Sour's Facebook page that the band had begun recording a covers EP, which is due to be titled
Meanwhile in Burbank... and released in 2015. Corey Taylor stated about the covers EP: "This is something that we've been talking about since the first album came out, with [Stone Sour]. We've always wanted to do this. Even as people have come, people have gone, this is still something we've always come back to, and we just never had the opportunity to do it. And we just kind of said, 'Well, screw it.'" On February 9, 2015, Stone Sour released an official music video and track, which is a cover version of the
Metal Church's song "The Dark".
Straight Outta Burbank..., the second volume in the series, has since been released. Per Blabbermouth.net, On March 29, 2016, frontman Corey Taylor told the "Someone Who Isn't Me" podcast: "Originally we were going to do three [covers EPs], and now it sounds like we're just going to do the two and just keep the other stuff we recorded as extra content for when we make the next album."
Hydrograd (2017–2019) On July 26, 2016, Taylor announced the band had written and demoed 18 songs for their sixth studio album, with plans to enter the studio in January for a likely mid-2017 release. On January 23, 2017, Taylor revealed that the band was in the process of recording their upcoming album named
Hydrograd. Taylor indicated that the album would incorporate heavy metal elements found in previous releases, alongside hard rock styles. Four singles have been released ahead of the album in promotion; "Fabuless", "
Song #3", "Taipei Person/Allah Tea" and "Mercy" (A live recording from Sphere Studios), with St. Marie being released as single following the album's release. Hydrograd released worldwide on June 30, 2017, to generally positive reviews. On November 6, 2019, the band announced that they would be releasing a live album titled,
Hello, You Bastards: Live in Reno, on December 13 of the same year.
Indefinite hiatus (2020–present) On August 10, 2020, Taylor announced on 'The Green Room with Neil Griffiths' podcast that Stone Sour was taking a hiatus, saying: "I feel like Stone Sour has kinda run its course for now," "We all talked as a band and decided to kinda put Stone Sour in indefinite hiatus. That's the way it is. We've put it on the shelf for now. Everyone's kind of going and doing their own thing." ==Musical style==