Korn are an American rock band formed in Bakersfield, California, after the group L.A.P.D. folded due to singer Richard Morrill's drug addiction. Musicians Reginald Arvizu, James Shaffer, and David Silveria wanted to continue, and recruited guitarist Brian Welch and vocalist Corey Cinque, starting a new band called Creep. However, Cinque was soon dropped due to the band being dissatisfied with him. In early 1993, the band tried to recruit vocalist Jonathan Davis (after seeing his band Sexart) – he initially wasn’t interested, but after consulting a psychic he decided to audition and subsequently joined the band. I was decided that a new name was needed – Davis suggested Korn as just a brainstorm, and everyone else liked it – Davis took a Crayola crayon and wrote their logo in a child's handwriting, with a "K" instead of "C" and a backwards upper-case "R". In April 1993, Korn formed a working relationship with producer Ross Robinson, leading to the demo tape “Neidermeyer’s Mind”. Immortal/Epic Records’ Paul Pontius heard the band in a nightclub and signed them on the spot, and with producer and label now in place, a self titled debut album was released in October 1994. The band toured incessantly with no support from radio or video stations, relying solely on their intense live shows - this strategy and the fanbase it garnered elevated “Korn” onto the Billboard 200, eventually reaching number 72. The single "Shoots and Ladder" became their first Grammy nomination for “Best Metal Performance”.

Korn retained Robinson’s production skills for second album, “Life Is Peachy”, released in October 1996, which sold over 106,000 copies in its first week and reached number 3 on the Billboard 200. In addition, first single "No Place to Hide" produced a second “Best Metal Performance” Grammy nomination. The following year, Korn formed their own record label, Elementree Records – their first signing was Videodrone, whose singer, Ty Elam, is credited for giving Jonathan Davis singing lessons. However, Orgy (whose guitarist Ryan Shuck was a member of Sexart with Elam and Davis) were the first to release their debut on Elementree, and gained a platinum certification. Over the next few years, Korn signed other acts like rapper Marz and Deadsy.

1998’s “Follow the Leader” was Korn's third album, and featured guest vocalists such as Ice Cube, Pharcyde’s Tre Hardson, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit and actor Cheech Marin (on the hidden track "Earache My Eye", written by Marin himself). The album debuted at number 1 on Billboard with 268,000 copies sold, with single "Freak on a Leash" making the Top 10 of both the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts (he latter of which it spent 27 weeks on, more than any other Korn single to date), and winning a Grammy for “Best Music Video, Short Form”, along with 2 MTV Video Music Awards (“Best Rock Video” and “Best Editing”). “Follow the Leader” was eventually certified 5 times platinum, and has sold around 10 million copies worldwide.

The band's fourth album, “Issues”, produced by Brendan O'Brien, was released in November 1999, featuring cover art designed by Alfredo Carlos (who won a contest held for the fans by MTV). Despite being released during a week of many high profile records (such as Dr. Dre's long awaited album “2001” and Celine Dion's greatest hits album), it debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 with more than 573,000 copies sold, and has been certified 3 times platinum.

June 2002 saw Korn offer their fifth LP, “Untouchables”, which debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 with 434,000 sales, and achieved platinum status. The single “Here To Stay” earned Korn a Grammy for “Best Metal Performance”, and would become their highest charting single on Billboard's Modern Rock chart. In July 2003, Korn released a new single, "Did My Time", which was used to promote the film “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life”, and appeared on the film’s soundtrack. Angelina Jolie appeared in the Dave Meyers-directed video, and the song also gave Korn another Grammy nomination in the category of “Best Metal Performance”. “Take a Look in the Mirror”, released in November 2003, was produced by the band themselves, and made number 9 on Billboard, selling over 179,000 copies in its first full week. Just under a year later, Korn released their greatest hits album, “Greatest Hits Vol.1”, debuting at number 4 on Billboard and selling more than 129,000 copies.

Prior to Korn starting work on their next album, guitarist Brian "Head" Welch announced that he had "...chosen the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior, and will be dedicating his musical pursuits to that end" and was formally leaving Korn, his departure representing the band's first official line-up change in their history. The band had also completed their record deal with Sony, and signed to Virgin Records. Seventh album (and the first with Virgin) “See You on the Other Side” was released in December 2005, debuting at number 3 on the Billboard 200, selling around 220,000, and remaining in the Top 100 for 34 consecutive weeks. First single “Twisted Transistor” made number 3 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks (their highest entry) and number 9 on Modern Rock. “See You on the Other Side” is certified platinum, and has sold over 2 million copies worldwide. However, another line up change was imminent, with founding drummer David Silveria taking an indefinite “hiatus” from December 2006. Shortly after, Korn performed a 14 song acoustic set at the MTV studios in Times Square for the MTV Unplugged series, with guest appearances by The Cure and Evanescence's Amy Lee, and the performance was cut down to 11 songs for the album “MTV Unplugged: Korn”, which sold 51,000 in it’s first week and went to number 9 on the Billboard.

Korn's untitled eighth studio album was released in July 2007, debuting at number 2 with 123,000 copies in its first week, and representing the ninth debut in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 (all 8 studi albums plus “Greatest Hits Vol.1”). The album features touring keyboardist Zac Baird, and a share of drumming duties with Terry Bozzio, Jonathan Davis, Bad Religion's aptly named Brooks Wackerman and Slipknot's Joey Jordison all getting time on the skins, filling in for David Silveria’s ongoing hiatus. Singles "Evolution" and "Hold On" charted on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks at number 4 and number 9 respectively. A second greatest hits compilation, "Playlist: The Very Best of Korn" was released in April 2008.

Korn have sold over 30 million albums worldwide, including 16.5 million in the US.