Korn Tribute Band's Drummer Suffers Stroke Onstage, Refuses To Stop Playing

When a musician plays through an injury, it shows a true dedication to their craft. Sometimes, it's as simple as getting onstage with a fever and a cold; others, it's continuing to DJ a set even though you've broken both of your legs (hey, being in Slipknot is no joke). But playing while you're having a stroke -- well, that takes a special kind of strength. And yet that's exactly what one fan did while drumming for his Korn tribute band.

According to the Manchester Evening News, drummer Alex Headen was playing with his tribute band Korn Again at Rockstock Festival in Stockport when he suffered a stroke onstage. Midway through a rendition of Helmet In The Bush, Alex began to feel an intense pain in his shoulder -- and then the left side of his body went numb, and he lost sight in one eye. While Alex had to stop playing cymbals with his left hand, he refused to end the track before it was done, and instead finished out the song with his right hand before collapsing and being rushed to the hospital.

According to Alex, "Never in a million years did I think I was having a stroke. I just thought I had low blood sugar or was dehydrated.

"I thought, ‘If I get through this song I can grab a fizzy drink or a bite to eat and carry on,'" he said. "I started the show fine but by the fourth song my vision started to go blurry, then my left arm went numb and I dropped my drum stick. I carried on playing with just my right arm but then I completely lost my vision in my left eye. The song finished and I collapsed on my drum kit.”

Watch footage of the performance below. At about the 2:22 mark, you can see Alex look at his lead singer, point to his one eye, and make a hand motion suggesting that he can't see.

Alex's story didn't fall on deaf ears. Korn guitarist Brian "Head" Welch saw the report, and posted the following to Instagram:

Here's to Alex for being more hardcore than any of us will ever be.

Korn's recently-announced new album The Nothing will drop September 13th via Roadrunner Records. The band are heading out on a North American tour with Alice In Chains later this year, so catch them live at one of the following dates:

July 2019

18 Austin360 Amphitheatre, Del Valle, TX
20 Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands, TX
21 Dos Equis Pavilion, Dallas, TX
23 Oak Mountain Amphitheatre, Birmingham, AL
25 Verizon Amphitheatre, Alpharetta, GA
26 Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
28 Coral Sky Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach, FL
30 Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater, Virginia Beach, VA
31 Jiffy Lube Live, Bristow, VA

August 2019

02 Darien Lake Amphitheater, Darien Center, NY
03 BB&T Pavilion, Camden, NJ
06 Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY
07 PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
09 Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MA
10 The XFINITY Theatre, Hartford, CT
11 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
13 DTE Energy Music Theatre, Clarkston, MI
14 Budweiser Stage, Toronto, ON
16 Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH
17 KeyBank Pavilion, Burgettstown, PA
18 Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH
20 Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center, Noblesville, IN
21 Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Tinley Park, IL
23 Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Maryland Heights, MO
25 Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
27 Isleta Amphitheatrer, Albuquerque, NM
30 FivePoint Amphitheatre, Irvine, CA
31 Ak-Chin Pavilion, Phoenix, AZ

September 2019

02 North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, Chula Vista, CA
04 Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA

Read this next:

• How Korn changed my life
• The 12 most iconic nu-metal lyrics of all time
• The 6 best Jonathan Davis scat performances