Maynard James Keenan
Maynard James Keenan (born James Herbert Keenan; April 17, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, philanthropist, record producer, and winemaker. He is best known as the singer and primary lyricist of the rock bands Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer.
Maynard James Keenan
James Herbert Keenan
April 17, 1964
Ravenna, Ohio, U.S.
- Singer
- songwriter
- record producer
- winemaker
- philanthropist
1986–present
United States
U.S. Army
Having grown up in Ohio and Michigan, Keenan joined the U.S. Army after graduating from high school. After his service, he attended the Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He relocated to Los Angeles in 1988 to pursue a career in interior design and set construction, and formed Tool with Adam Jones shortly thereafter.
In addition to his music career, Keenan owns Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Cellars in Arizona, where he resides. Since rising to fame, he has been noted as a recluse, although he does emerge to support charitable causes and for the occasional interview. He has also ventured into acting.
Music career[edit]
Early bands[edit]
Upon completing his term of prep school, Keenan studied art at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan. From there he moved to Somerville, Massachusetts, where his love of animals led him to practice interior design for a Boston-area pet store. He was transferred to a store in Los Angeles,[15] before he was quickly fired and began working in set construction.[16] During the 1980s, Keenan played bass guitar for TexA.N.S. and sang for Children of the Anachronistic Dynasty, both independent bands.[10] During this time, he wrote an early version of "Sober", later Tool's first successful single.[17] He also (with future Tool bandmate Danny Carey) performed live and recorded with Green Jellö between 1990 and 1993, playing guitar and performing backup vocals as the voice of one of the pigs on the band's hit song "Three Little Pigs" on their debut album Cereal Killer, and appearing in the music video for "Slave Boy" on the band's follow-up LP 333.[18] Around this time he also struck up a friendship with Tom Morello, who has credited Keenan with introducing him to Drop D tuning. Keenan spent time jamming with Morello and Brad Wilk, as did Zack de la Rocha: Morello and Wilk considered Keenan and de la Rocha as candidates for the vocalist with what would become Rage Against the Machine before deciding to ask the latter.[19]
Comedy and acting[edit]
Keenan is featured in several segments of Mr. Show,[102] most notably in the Ronnie Dobbs sketch presented in the first season in which he plays the lead singer of the then-fictitious band "Puscifer". He also appears in episode 2.6, "The Velveteen Touch of a Dandy Fop". Later, Keenan sang on a track for the Mr. Show incarnation Run Ronnie Run,[103] and appears in the "music video sex scene" on its DVD. Keenan appeared on the cover of the May/June 1999 issue of Pop Smear magazine, portraying Charles Manson as part of a photo essay, imitating a famous Life magazine portrait.[104] He also appeared as Satan in the 2002 film Bikini Bandits and its 2004 sequel Bikini Bandits 2: Golden Rod. When asked in an interview which role was more difficult, Keenan responded, "Oh, Manson. He's a real person. People know what he looks like, how he talked. With Satan there's so much gray area."[15]
In the mid-90s, responding to requests for Tool to perform in benefit shows, Keenan created "Free Frances Bean" tee-shirts to represent his own platform. Frances's mother, Courtney Love, had previously referred to Keenan as a "media whore" to which he responded, "Isn't that great? I have the distinction of being called a media whore by Courtney Love."[11] He said that after watching "the tornado that is her mother", he thought "Oh my God, how is Frances Bean gonna survive this insanity?"[11] Although it was started as a simple joke, the T-shirts were soon in high demand and Keenan began giving them away.[11]
On April 1, 2005, the official Tool website announced, as an April Fools' Day prank, that "Maynard has found Jesus" and would be abandoning the recording of the new album temporarily and possibly permanently.[105] Kurt Loder of MTV contacted Keenan via email to ask for a confirmation and received a nonchalant confirmation. When Loder asked again, Keenan's response was simply "heh heh".[106] On April 7, the official site revealed that it was a hoax.[107] During an interview Keenan later stated, "It was April Fools'. If you fall for that on April Fools' Day, there's nothing I can do for you."[15] He has been part of other April Fools' pranks related to Tool, including one in which he was said to be in critical condition after a tour bus accident.[108]
Keenan made a cameo in the 2009 film Crank: High Voltage.[109] In May 2015, Keenan made a cameo in an episode of Comedy Bang! Bang! as fictional punk musician Barf Edwards.[110]
Philanthropy[edit]
Keenan performed at a 1997 benefit concert for RAINN (the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) organized by Tori Amos (who had often referred to Keenan as an unofficial brother).[128] He is one of the notable performers for Axis of Justice, a non-profit organization that brings musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations together to fight for social justice.[129] In 2004, Axis of Justice released Concert Series Volume 1. Included are two tracks featuring Keenan on vocals. The second track on the album, "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding", was recorded live during Lollapalooza in Seattle, Washington on August 23, 2003. The first track, "Where the Streets Have No Name", was recorded live during the Axis of Justice Concert Series at The Avalon in Hollywood on July 19, 2004. In February 2005, Keenan appeared as a surprise vocalist at a Seattle benefit concert for victims of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami in southern Asia, performing with the partly reformed Alice in Chains, in place of the deceased vocalist Layne Staley, on the songs "Them Bones", "Man in the Box", and "Rooster".
With TexA.N.S.
With Children of the Anachronistic Dynasty
With Tool
With A Perfect Circle
As Puscifer