Slipknot’s M. Shawn Crahan Says He Needs Heart Surgery After Tour

Slipknot’s M. Shawn Crahan has revealed that he will need heart surgery after being diagnosed with a cardiac condition following the band’s recent tour.

The 56-year-old percussionist, better known to fans as Clown, shared the news during a conversation on Rick Rubin’s Tetragrammaton podcast, which was posted to YouTube on May 7.

In the interview, Crahan said he went to the doctor after not feeling well once the tour ended, and that medical tests uncovered an issue with the electrical system in his heart. He described the experience in blunt, characteristically offhand terms, saying,

“I have a skipping heart and I got to get a surgery,” Crahan told Rubin. “I found this out after my last tour. I went in, I wasn’t feeling good, and I went in and the nurse was trying to get an EKG thing going on and it just wasn’t happening. I kind of fell asleep and I woke up. I’m like, ‘Are you going to get this thing?’ And she’s like, ‘Oh, it’s not working.’ They thought I was having a heart attack right there. My heart skips and apparently I’ve taught myself to be like a cross-country runner.”

Crahan, Slipknot’s last remaining founding member, said the condition has been affecting his heart rate in a way that can leave him feeling suddenly ill. He explained,

“I’m overweight and my brain is so strong that it tells this stuff what to do,” he continued. “My standing heart rate at night is 43 and during the day I get down to 33. Hasn’t happened since I’ve been here with you, which is good, because I’ll go from ‘on,’ to just straight up I feel like I’m dying. I got to get a surgery. It’s a very easy surgery. You’re usually out on the same day. It’s not like they rip you open. This is something about the electricity.”

He also said he briefly wondered whether he might need a pacemaker, joking that it might have been an easy escape from touring, before being told by a doctor that treatment would likely help.

“I just I lost it. I was like, I can’t get out of this to save my life,” Crahan joked. “I’m like, there is nothing, not even my heart. It’s going to be better because of Slipknot.”

Crahan added that he now has access to specialized care because of his career, and said his doctors expect him to improve.

“I got a concierge doctor because I’m in Slipknot and I’m able to go to levels and they’re like, ‘No, you’re going to feel better. You better get in shape because you got to do more now at 56,’” he said. “And it’s just like I just can’t believe it, man, that this was me. It’s wonderful. I’m lucky.”

You can watch Crahan’s full interview on Rubin’s Tetragrammaton podcast below.