Korn bassist Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu has revealed he will no longer be playing on the band’s upcoming tour as he takes an indefinite hiatus from the group to work on “bad habits.”
The 51-year-old announced the news on Monday in a candid Facebook post where he opened up about struggling with personal issues over the past few years.
“The past six years, I’ve been dealing with some personal issues that at times have caused me to fall back on some of my bad habits and has caused some tension with the people around me,” he wrote in the post.
“It’s been suggested to me to take some time off to heal. I’m going to respect what was asked of me and take that time.”
He continued: “Unfortunately you will not see me on stage with my band. I will be working towards getting the bad habits out of my system. In the meantime, I will be staying creative to keep my mind and soul in a good place.
“I’m thankful for all of your support, patience, and understanding as we all have something that we deal with. Jonathan, Munky, Ray, and Head, I love you and I don’t want to bring any tension or bad vibes to the circle.”
While Korn are yet to announce Fieldy’s replacement for their 28-city tour that kicks off in August, back in 2017, Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo’s then-12-year-old son Tye Trujillo stepped in as the band’s touring bassist during their South American tour after Fieldy was unable to perform due to “unforeseen circumstances.”
Love Metal?
Get the latest Metal news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
It’s not the first time a member of Korn has opened up about their personal struggles.
Last year, Korn frontman Jonathan Davis opened up about his previous addiction to methamphetamine during the early days of the band’s success in an episode of Steve-O’s Wild Ride, a podcast hosted by the former Jackass star.
“It started before Korn blew up,” Davis explained to Steve-O at the time. “I started doing meth when I moved to Huntington, and there’s a lot of meth there from Bakersfield, and I got hooked up with someone that was giving me tons of it there.”
“So on the first album [1994’s self-titled], we have a title called ‘Helmet in the Bush’ – it’s about meth. I started doing meth there, that was the first record,” Davis revealed.
The ‘Freak on a Leash’ rocker said that it was when Korn began touring he decided he had to quit meth once and for all, explaining that he “couldn’t function” while using the highly addictive drug.
“And then I got sober right after we did the third record [1998’s Follow the Leader]. So I stopped meth when we started touring because I couldn’t function; there’s no way I could be up for two days and tour and keep it together, and I had to stop,” he said.
“So the day we took off on tour, the first tour with House of Pain and Biohazard, we got in our trailer and we built bunks, and I just got on that bunk and I slept for five fucking days, got up and played a show, and that’s when I kicked it.”
“I couldn’t do meth and fucking tour, it wouldn’t work. So I started drinking, and then I became a raging alcoholic – and cocaine occasionally when I could find it. But yeah, they go hand in hand.”
You can read more about this topic on the Metal Observer.
Check out ‘Freak on a Leash’ by Korn:
