Stone Sour was originally formed in 1992 by Corey Taylor and drummer Joel Ekman. Taylor's long time friend, Shawn Economaki, joined shortly after, and filled in as the bass player. The band had played clubs and bars with various different guitarists - often filling the position for just one show. During this time, Stone Sour recorded two demo tapes, in 1992 and 1994. Shortly after in 1995, James Root - who would later join Taylor in Slipknot - joined the band. The group was complete, and in 1996 recorded another demo tape, and songs from which would later be used in 2002 on their self titled debut album, Stone Sour. The band was named after an alcoholic drink that consists of one part whiskey, one part orange juice, with a splash of sour mix.
In 1997 the band disbanded when Taylor left to join Slipknot, who were another up-and-coming act in Des Moines at the time who were to soon earn a record deal. Root also joined the band a year later, and Economaki went on to become their stage manager. Ekman stayed in Des Moines, and formed a family.
In 2000, Josh Rand approached Taylor with songs he had been working on. While Slipknot were touring, the two worked together for a year and a half writing, when they realized that the songs they were creating were sufficiently good to record. In 2000 Stone Sour produced a demo tape, and later that year the group recorded an album under the name SuperEgo called "Click Here to Exit" which was never released. It was, however, sufficient to earn them a record contract with RoadRunner. During this time, the band had numerous name changes, including ProjectX and Closure, before deciding that since the members were the same, and they were producing music that was true to their original style, there was only one real option - Stone Sour.
The band recorded their self-titled first album in Cedar Falls, Iowa, which was released on 31 July 2002 in the UK, and on 1 August in the US. Aided by the song "Bother" which was featured on the Spider-Man soundtrack (credited only to Taylor), the album went on to become Gold. The band toured for six months together, before going on a temporary hiatus as Taylor and Root went back to join Slipknot for another album and tour.
During Slipknot's "Subliminal Verses" tour, Rand revealed that the band were working on more songs together, and in January 2006 began the recording process to begin work on a follow up album. Two weeks into the recording of the drum tracks, Ekman left the project due to his son falling ill with a brain tumour, which he later succumbed to and passed away in May 2006. It was decided that Roy Mayorga (of Soulfly fame) would re-record the drum tracks. On 25 March, it was announced that Ekman was officially no longer Stone Sour's drummer, and on May 10, they announced that Mayorga was to be his replacement.
Stone Sour finished recording at least 18 tracks in Dave Grohl's studio, including a collaboration with Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed, for the second album, titled "Come What(ever) May", on 4 April. Mixing began on 10 April by Randy Staub (Metallica, Hatebreed). On 29 April, the band released a video for the song "Reborn" which shows the band performing in a studio.On 22 May, Roadrunner Records put the song "Reborn" up for download on their website.
Following the announcement of the coming album, "Come What(ever) May", rumours of the track listing included six tracks that eventually weren't released: Suffer, The Frozen, Fruitcake, Day I Let Go, Drama, and Freeze Dry Seal. Suffer and The Frozen can currently be bought online from iTunes, while Fruitcake was released on 6 November 2006 with the UK "Through Glass" single.
The band went on to tour with KoRn, Deftones, Flyleaf, Dir en grey, Deadsy, 10 Years, Bury Your Dead, Bullets And Octane and Walls of Jericho on the Family Values 2006 Tour, during which Corey performed "Freak On A Leash" with KoRn several times, which can be heard on the soundtrack to the tour.
On September 14, 2006, Stone Sour officially joined the third Music as a Weapon Tour alongside Disturbed. They are currently supporting Evanescence on their Canadian tour of January 2007, which started on January 5, 2007 in Montreal. The band will also headline a European tour, where they will be supported by Bullets and Octane.
Corey Taylor and James Root said in a interview that Stone Sour might have another album out before they go back to Slipknot. This Spring 2007, Stone Sour will be joined by Lacuna Coil and Shadows Fall for the Jägermeister Music Tour.
