“They would tell us directly to our faces, ‘You’re not going to last’”: Other bands hated Slipknot on their first Ozzfest tour – but Sharon Osbourne saved them

Slipknot posing for a photograph in boiler suits in 1999.

Slipknot’s appearance on the 1999 Ozzfest is the stuff of legend. Making their debut on the travelling festival’s second stage a full month before their self-titled 1999 album was unleased on an unsuspecting world, the Iowa nine-piece’s full-on performances were a taster for their impending greatness.

But not everyone was so impressed with them. Speaking in the brand new issue of Metal Hammer magazine, guitarist Jim Root and percussionist Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan recall how their unexpected impact made other bands jealous, prompting them to “shit talk” the Iowa nine-piece.