Korn began as the heavy metal band LAPD, in Bakersfield, CA. In the beginning their alternative metal sounds won them places as cover bands for big stars such Ozzy Osborn, Marilynn Manson, and Megadeath. They are known to have had one of the heaviest and most creepy debuts since Black Sabbath. Their music contains hard-core contemporary themes of sex, pain and rebellion against religion.

Korn began by working the rock scene in California under the name LAPD until they hooked up with Johnathan Davis, who had been the lead vocalist for the band Sexart. With the addition of Davis the band was launched on their way to success. Starting out for the first time with the name Korn, they soon became one of the most popular and provocative groups to emerge from the post-grunge era. Their lyrics are explicit and their music is loud and they havedefinitely been making themselves heard.

Since 1998 Korn has had 20 songs in the charts and of those twenty every single one has been in at least twice, some as many as four times. Their song "Freak on a Leash" was in the top 100 two times in 1999 and three times in 2007. They are known among musicians and music fans for being the band that brought back the down-tuned seven-string guitar, which was on the edge of becoming extinct when the band came on the music scene.

The band has suffered somewhat from losing Brian Welch in 2005, who left because he had become a Christian. Welch felt that he was no longer able to produce music (and especially lyrics) of the kind that Korn produces due to moral objections. They have also had to endure the loss of David Silveria, who has taken a hiatus from the band. However they are still recorded as being one of the most influential bands of their genre.