Slipknot co-founder Shawn Crahan, also known as Clown, has stated that the heavy metal band would love to perform at the next Olympics.
Earlier this year, French metal band Gojira played at the opening ceremony for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. They became the first band in the heavy metal genre to do so, a feat that left Clown looking on with pride.
“I got goosebumps,” he admitted during a conversation with Metal Hammer, “I know this is going to sound stupid, but I’m just so proud of them.” He described the band, who are also his friends, as “incredible” and named Mario Duplantier as one of his favourite drummers in hard rock.
“What a huge, huge honour, what a huge performance,” he continued to enthuse, “And what an enormous metaphor: you have all these wonderful athletes, the best of the best together, and someone involved thought, ‘We should get Gojira to open this up…’ Like, Gojira are the gold medal.”
Clown was then asked if he would be interested in playing at the next Olympics, which will take place in the summer of 2028 in Los Angeles, California. He seemed enthusiastic about the idea, responding, “Of course! We’d love to do it.”
“You’re gonna start to see Slipknot do some weird shit,” he continued, “We’ve reached the point where, you know, we want to play the Grammys, we want to play the Olympics. Why not? We’ve done the standard circuit already, for 25 years, and in the future we are going to be everywhere.”
The opening ceremony also featured performances from a number of other French artists including singer-songwriters Aya Nakamura, Juliette Armanet and Philippe Katerine. The legendary Céline Dion also made an appearance, while Lady Gaga delivered a pink-feathered performance.
The closing ceremony featured a similarly impressive lineup, with sets from popstar Billie Eilish, rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers, and rapper Snoop Dogg, each helming from California, where the next games will take place.
Slipknot are currently out on the road for their ‘Here Comes the Pain’ tour, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of their self-titled debut album. The tour has taken them across North America, with shows in Toronto, Baltimore, New York and more.
The band seem set to spend the rest of the year out on the road, too. The North American leg of the anniversary tour continues into September with shows in Dallas, Austin and Phoenix amongst others. The metal band will then take to stages shows across South America and Europe in the winter.
