Corey Taylor was honored with the Icon award at Rock To Recovery’s second annual awareness event and benefit concert which was held this past weekend on Saturday (16) at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood, California. The Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman gave an emotional acceptance speech which he opened up about his personal struggles with depression, anxiety, and addiction. He opened up to the crowd, announcing he is eight years sober along with reflecting on those he lost due to addiction including his bandmate Paul Gray, who died in 2010. It was difficult for Taylor to initially speak as his emotional state was clear.

Shortly after pulling himself together, he stated:

“It’s been eight years, and you put a lot of shit in perspective. You have a lot of time to think. You have nowhere to go with it. Your trial and error becomes your way of life, who you are is a question every day, and why. And in this industry, that ‘why’ is kind of wrapped up in a lot of weird shit. So the great thing about this program, this organization is it takes away all of that shit. It takes away the stigma of trying to be a better person, trying to be a stronger person, a healthier person. It takes away the feeling of being alone, surrounded by people who are doing the exact same stuff that you do. And it lets you enjoy it again, which is a fucking hard thing to do when you’re force-fed an idea that it’s only cool if you’re fucked up. It’s not. It’s actually better once you get your head together, or try to. So if I tell you anything… I had my first drink when I was five years old, did my first drug when I was eleven, and it was just all fucked up from there. I lost a lot of friends.”

After fighting tears back, the frontman concluded:

“One day at a time. And every day is a gift. So thank you for having this gift with me.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIsOUcR4vAQ