Pepper J. Keenan (born May 8, 1967) is an American guitarist and vocalist, best known for his work with heavy metal bands

Corrosion of Conformity Corrosion of Conformity (also known as COC) is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina, formed in 1982. The band has undergone multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with guitarist Woody Weatherman as the sole const ...

and Down. He joined Corrosion of Conformity in 1989, but did not become the lead singer until the recording of ''

Deliverance ''Deliverance'' is a 1972 American survival thriller film produced and directed by John Boorman, and starring Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox, with the latter two making their feature film debuts. The screenplay was adapt ...

'' in 1994. In 1991, Keenan formed Down with

Phil Anselmo Philip Hansen Anselmo (born June 30, 1968) is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal vocalist best known as the lead singer for Pantera, Down (band), Down, and Superjoint, amongst other musical projects. He is the owner of Housecore Records ...

Pantera Pantera () is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas formed in 1981, and currently comprised of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. The group's best-kn ...

, Jimmy Bower of

Eyehategod Eyehategod (also abbreviated and referred to as EHG) is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana who formed in 1988. They have become one of the better known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene. Their core lineup has r ...

, and

Kirk Windstein Kirk Windstein (born April 14, 1965) is an American musician. He is the frontman, vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and sole constant member of the sludge metal band Crowbar. He is also a founding member of the heavy metal supergroup Down, playing g ...

and

Todd Strange Todd Strange (born June 26, 1966) is an American musician who is the bass guitarist for sludge metal band Crowbar. He also toured with Down and performed live in support of their debut album, ''NOLA.'' Career Strange formed Crowbar with Ki ...

of Crowbar.

Early life

Keenan was born in

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Oxf ...

, but now lives in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, where he owns a bar named "Le Bon Temps Roule". His father, a former musician, is a local real estate appraiser in New Orleans. While developing his playing style in New Orleans, Pepper served as a member of local band Graveyard Rodeo, and met and became friends with Corrosion of Conformity during their frequent shows at the infamous Franklin Avenue VFW Hall in New Orleans.

Career

Corrosion of Conformity

Keenan joined Corrosion of Conformity in 1989. Corrosion of Conformity released their third album, '' Blind'', with Keenan on rhythm guitar. After Karl Agell and

Phil Swisher Corrosion of Conformity (also known as COC) is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina, formed in 1982. The band has undergone multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with guitarist Woody Weatherman as the sole const ...

left the band (Swisher being replaced by original bassist Mike Dean), Keenan took over on vocals and guitar. Corrosion of Conformity have since released the albums ''

'', '' Wiseblood'', '' America's Volume Dealer'', and '' In the Arms of God'', '' No Cross No Crown'', as well as the live release '' Live Volume''. From 2006 to 2010, Corrosion of Conformity was on hiatus. The band later reunited and recorded an album without Keenan, however, he rejoined the group in 2015 and they performed their first show with the reunited ''Deliverance''-era lineup of Keenan, Woody Weatherman, Mike Dean, and Reed Mullin in March 2015 in Manchester, England. Their first U.S. tour with the reunited lineup, supporting

Clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...

, was announced in July 2015. ''No Cross No Crown'', the bands latest album to date, was released in 2018 and features Keenan on vocals and guitar.

Down

Keenan with Down at Hellfest 2022 Keenan was a founding member of Down in 1991 along with

's Jimmy Bower, and Crowbar's

and

. In 1995, Down released their debut album, ''

NOLA Nola is a town and a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, southern Italy. It lies on the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines. It is traditionally credited as the diocese that introduced bells to Christian worship. ...

''. The band went on indefinite hiatus in 1996 but returned three years later with Pantera bassist

Rex Brown Rex Robert Brown (born July 27, 1964) is an American musician. He is best known as the bassist for heavy metal band Pantera, from 1982 to their disbandment in 2003. As of their reunion in 2022, he is the band's only constant member. Brown i ...

replacing Strange. In 2002, Down released their second album '' Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow''. Following a second hiatus, Down released their third album entitled '' Down III: Over the Under'' in 2007. Down released their fourth album '' Down IV Part I – The Purple EP'' in September 2012 and '' Down IV – Part II'' of a four-part series of EPs.

Collaborations with Metallica

Keenan plays guitar and sings a part of the second verse on

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

's cover of the

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...

song "

Tuesday's Gone "Tuesday's Gone" is the second track on Lynyrd Skynyrd's debut album, ''(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)''. It also appears on the band's first live LP, '' One More from the Road''. Production Al Kooper adds upfront Mellotron string sou ...

". He also recorded a number of other songs in the same session, but this was the only one given a general release (on the album ''

Garage Inc. ''Garage Inc.'' is a compilation album of cover songs by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on November 24, 1998, through Elektra Records. It includes cover songs, B-side covers, and ''The $5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited'' ...

''), the others only being available as bootlegs. Keenan is good friends with lead singer and guitarist

James Hetfield James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder and a main songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his intricate rhythm playing, but occasionall ...

. Hetfield provided backing vocals on "Man or Ash" from

's '' Wiseblood''. Keenan auditioned for Metallica's vacant bass player position following

Jason Newsted Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963) is an American musician who was the bassist of heavy metal band Metallica from 1986 to 2001. He first performed with thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam from 1981 to 1986 before joining Metallica to su ...

's departure from the band but lost out to former

Suicidal Tendencies Suicidal Tendencies is an American crossover thrash band formed in 1980 in Venice in Los Angeles, California by vocalist Mike Muir. Muir is the only remaining original member of the band. Along with D.R.I., Corrosion of Conformity, and Stormtr ...

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

bassist

Robert Trujillo Roberto Agustín Miguel Santiago Samuel Trujillo Veracruz (; born October 23, 1964) is an American musician, best known as the bassist for Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Metallica since 2003. He first rose to prominence as the bassist of cr ...

. Keenan's audition is shown in the Metallica documentary '' Metallica: Some Kind of Monster''. In addition to his contribution to the song "Tuesday's Gone" Pepper also appeared with Metallica onstage at the Download Festival in Donington, England in 2006 along with

Matt Heafy Matthew Kiichi Heafy (born January 26, 1986) is an American musician, best known as the guitarist and lead vocalist for heavy metal band Trivium. He was also the lead vocalist for the band Capharnaum, along with Trivium's former producer Jason ...

Trivium The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The trivium is implicit in ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but t ...

to provide additional vocals on the song "

Die, Die My Darling "Die, Die My Darling" is a song by the American horror punk band Misfits. It was released in May 1984 on singer Glenn Danzig's label, Plan 9 Records, seven months after the band's breakup. The song is titled after the 1965 horror film ''Fanat ...

" (a

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

cover). This song was played at the end of Metallica's headlining set.

Personal life

Keenan became the father of a daughter named Flannery Rose Keenan with his longtime girlfriend Anna Hrnjak on January 5, 2010. In an interview with Guitar.com, Keenan was asked about his thoughts on politics in which he responded "I mean, the Bible means a lot more to me than the Constitution and any fuckin' politics involved in this country or any other country." Keenan has been a vocal critic of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

. At a 2016 Corrosion of Conformity concert, Keenan dedicated the song "Vote with a Bullet" to the former US president. Keenan was featured with his 1955 Chevy "Gasser" in a television episode of '' Big Easy Motors''.

Discography

Corrosion of Conformity albums

Down albums

References

External links

Corrosion of Conformity official websiteGallery of Pepper Keenan with Corrosion of Conformity
o
Alberta StarsBackstage audio interview with Pepper Keenan on 3RRR FM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keenan, Pepper 1967 births Living people People from Oxford, Mississippi American heavy metal guitarists American male singers American heavy metal singers Musicians from New Orleans Rhythm guitarists Down (band) members Guitarists from Louisiana 20th-century American guitarists Corrosion of Conformity members American male guitarists