Korn Guitarist Brian ‘Head’ Welch Shares Picture of Israel Baptism To Celebrate ‘Spiritual Birthday’; John Cooper Says ‘Brian’s Testimony Is an Absolute Miracle!’

Brian “Head” Welch, a guitarist of the popular Grammy Award-winning nu metal band Korn, recently shared an image of his 2005 Jordan River baptism in celebration of his “spiritual birthday.”

Korn was founded in the early 90s by Welch, Jonathan Davis, James Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, and David Silveria. The band is known today as one of the pioneers of its genre.

But in February 2005, Welch announced that he was leaving the band after accepting Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior and was choosing to focus his future music endeavors on glorifying Christ. He later released three Christian solo albums and formed the Christian metal band Love and Death in 2012.

Welch struggled with drug and alcohol addiction until the he said God used his daughter to help save him.

On Thursday (Jan. 11), Welch posted, “Happy spiritual birthday to me,” alongside the image of his baptism.

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“This pic was the number one most downloaded photo on @yahoo the day it came out,” he added. “Probably because of the ridicule that I brought on myself—a metal guitarist getting baptized in Israel, resembling the popular white American image of Jesus Christ haha.”

Welch said that when he originally shared the image in 2005, people who saw it thought “it was a practical joke.” But what happened to him on the inside, he said, “was no joke at all and it is just as powerful and secure today—19 years later.”

Welch explained that when he was able to come to the “end of [himself],” it was “so precious” because it helped him realize that he had “truly despised” himself and that his egoic, “depressed, addicted view of [his] existence had to die.” Welch added that “laying my life down in the Jordan River waters in Israel symbolized that death to self.”

“New life will never be birthed until a death happens; a laying down of one’s pride and egotistical state of mind,” Welch continued, thanking his fans for having his back throughout this journey. “Whether you are on a similar spiritual journey or not, I seriously respect and appreciate you all,” he concluded.

 

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RELATED: Brian Welch of Korn Says God Led Him Back to the Band

In 2012, Welch joined his Korn bandmates onstage at a music festival in North Carolina for the first time since leaving the band in 2005. Welch later went on to play guitar on Korn’s 11th studio album, “The Paradigm Shift,” officially rejoining the band on May 2, 2013.