Whatever Happened to Slipknot’s Chris Fehn?

Are you familiar with musician Chris Fehn? You might know him better as one of the members of the group Slipknot. As it turns out, a lot of people have been wondering what has happened to him as of late. If you’re one of those people, then you’ve come to the right place to find out where he is and what he’s currently doing.

Background

He grew up in Iowa, even playing for Wayne State University’s football team as a kicker before joining Slipknot. He always had an interest in music and in the Autumn of 1998, joined Slipknot as a drummer, replacing their previous drummer, Brandon Darner. As you might know, members of Slipknot routinely wear masks and he eventually became known as Evil Pinocchio, among several other names. Prior to joining the band, Fehn held a job as an electrician. He has previously stated in interviews that even during some of the earlier years with the band, he retained that job as a means of supporting himself. It seems that he was also somewhat worried that the band might not succeed during those early years. Therefore, he was committed to keeping his day job, so to speak, just in case things didn’t go as planned with his musical career. Eventually, the band gained a lot of popularity and he decided to give up his career as an electrician and focus on his music full-time. There is also some question that he might have decided to keep his job as an electrician during the earlier years because he has admitted himself that some of the other band members weren’t exactly accepting of him at that time. He says that he experienced a lot of hazing in the band, despite the fact that one of the other band members, Shawn Crahan, was a personal friend of his. He says that this initial period was extremely difficult and one in which he regularly questioned whether or not he truly wanted to continue on with the group.

The Peak of Popularity

As you can see, he did decide to continue on performing with the band. Eventually, the hazing incidents began to subside and he truly found his place there as the band’s drummer. When he wasn’t on tour or in the studio creating a new album, he could frequently be found on the golf course. It shocks a lot of people to learn that someone who is so bold on stage could enjoy something as seemingly benign as golf when not performing, but he actually spends a great deal of time on the golf course. Not only does he enjoy it, but he’s also quite skilled at it. Eventually, he had a son who came along in 2012. Obviously, this changed his outlook on things quite a lot. As is the case with so many other parents, his focus shifted off of himself and to the well-being of his son. As it did, he started to look at things a little bit differently with the band, especially when it came to touring. The truth is, he started to question whether or not he wanted to be away so much. As it turns out, there were some other underlying problems with the band as well. The birth of his son only served to exacerbate those issues.

Disagreements

In 2019, those underlying issues came to a head when Fehn filed a lawsuit against the band because of what he referred to as questionable business deals. It all stemmed from the fact that he felt like he wasn’t being paid what he was owed for the work he was doing. In fact, he claimed that his wages were being withheld unfairly. According to Fehn, he had tried to work the problem out with fellow band members for some time, with no success. Considering the fact that they were starting to have disagreements around the time that his son was born, it’s easy to understand why he might have been frustrated. By the time that he finally parted ways with the band, seven years had passed. He probably felt like if those problems had not been addressed adequately in that amount of time, they never would be. At the same time, the other band members claimed that there were no issues except for the fact that Fehn himself had created these issues. Just a few days after the lawsuit went public, Fehn officially parted ways with the band. Almost as soon as that announcement was made official, it was just as quickly taken down. Everybody involved, including the band and Fehn’s lawyer, claimed that he is still employed. However, he is not actively touring with the band, nor does it seem that he is making any music with them. As far as he himself is concerned, there has been absolutely no discussion whatsoever since that announcement back in 2019. It’s most likely that his lawyers have advised him not to say anything at all until the matter is officially handled from a legal perspective, something that can take years to sort out in court.

For now, Fehn seems rather content to sit quietly by and focus on raising his son. There is no doubt that he still focuses on his music, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be with the band. As a matter of fact, he is more than capable of working with other acts, something that he has actually been doing quite a lot since that initial split in 2019. As far as any official word on his status with the band is concerned, fans will simply have to wait and see what happens. Perhaps one day, they will reunite. However, fans shouldn’t count on this too much, either. It doesn’t appear that he plans on making any public comment on the matter anytime soon.