Profile of Maynard James Keenan on Famous Like Me

Maynard James Keenan (born April 17, 1964 as James Herbert Keenan) is an American rock singer. He has been a member of the bands Tool since 1990 and A Perfect Circle since 1999.

Biography

Keenan was born to a Southern Baptist family in Ravenna, Ohio on April 17, 1964. After joining the Army in 1982, he attended the United States Military Academy from 1983 to 1984. However, he eventually left the military to study art, which eventually landed him a job in Los Angeles "applying spatial design concepts." Before his years with Tool, Keenan sang for Children of the Anachronistic Dynasty and TexAns.

In the 1980s Keenan moved to Los Angeles, apparently to work in interior design. He formed a band with guitarist Adam Jones and bassist Paul d'Amour (later replaced by Justin Chancellor). The lineup was not completed until Keenan's neighbor, drummer Danny Carey agreed to join. They called the band Tool. Keenan wanted to name it "The Flaming Turds" but was shot down.

Tool released the Opiate EP in 1992 and toured in support of Fishbone. On tour, Keenan met Billy Howerdel, a guitar tech for Fishbone. In 1996, during the recording of Ænima, Howerdel played Keenan some of his songs, and Keenan was impressed. However, they did not have a chance to begin collaboration until 1999, when they would work together to form A Perfect Circle.

Tool's 1993 release of their debut full-length album, Undertow, launched the band and Keenan into stardom. Keenan was immediately recognized as a singer and lyricist in the tradition of Ian Curtis and Robert Smith. His lyrics and vocals were melodic, grim, and angst-ridden. However, as Keenan continued to record with Tool, his lyrics evolved into increasingly introspective and spiritual pieces of art that focused not only on anger but on the positive benefits of transcending it.

Later, after a prolonged legal battle with their label Volcano Records (formerly Zoo Records), the members of Tool decided to take some time off. Keenan found time to work with Howerdel. The band they formed, A Perfect Circle, began performing in 1999 and released its first album in 2000. As of 2005, Keenan remains the lead singer of both APC and Tool.

In February, 2005, Keenan appeared as a surprise vocalist at a Seattle benefit concert for victims of the recent 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".

Keenan is unmarried and has one son named Devo (born August 5, 1995). He was engaged to Jennifer Brena Ferguson, but they broke up before marrying. Which the song by A Perfect Circle uses her middle name in "Brena". His beloved mother, Judith, passed away in 2003 and her life was the inspiration for the APC song that borrows her name.

Maynard and Comedy

Bill Hicks

Maynard became friends with legendary comedian Bill Hicks in the early 1990s. Maynard did stand-up comedy on improv nights in comedy clubs in Los Angeles during that time, delivering - according to a friend of Hicks - inspiring comedy. They got to know each other and eventually, Bill Hicks opened some Tool concerts. Best known is a routine Hicks did on Tool's Lollapalooza tour in 1992, when he asked the audience to look for a contact lens he'd lost. Thousands of people complied. Maynard so enjoyed this joke he repeated it on a number of occasions.

"Finding Jesus"

On April 1, 2005 Maynard announced as an April Fool's joke - to the shock of many of his fans and friends - that he had "found jesus" and would be abandoning the recording of the new Tool album temporarily, possibly permanently.

Kurt Loder of MTV contacted Keenan via email to ask for a confirmation and received a very nonchalant confirmation. When Loder asked again, Keenan's response was simply "heh heh". Loder also noted that Keenan had not capitalized Jesus, uncommon for someone who had just converted to Christianity. The announcement was most likely inspired by Brian "Head" Welch's 2005 decision to leave his band KoЯn to dedicate his life to Christianity.

On April 7, the official Tool site announced that the gag was up with the statement; "Good news, April fools fans. The writing and recording is back under way." When approached for comment on his recent encounter with the Son of God, Maynard said, "That guy's a punk!"

Discography

• Fingernails (1986) (Children Of The Anachronistic Dynasty)
• Never Again (1987) (TexAns)
• Opiate (1992) (Tool)
• Rage Against the Machine (1992) (Rage Against the Machine) Performed on "Know Your Enemy".
• Undertow (1993) (Tool)
• Replicants (1995) (Replicants) Performed on "Silly Love Songs", a Wings cover.
• Ænima (1996) (Tool)
• Mer de Noms (2000) (A Perfect Circle)
• White Pony (2000) (Deftones) Performed on "Passenger".
• Salival (2000) (Tool)
• Lateralus (2001) (Tool)
• Thirteenth Step (2003) (A Perfect Circle)
• Underworld Soundtrack (2003) (Performing with A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, and on a David Bowie remix track]])
• eMOTIVe (2004) (A Perfect Circle)
• aMOTION (2004) (A Perfect Circle)

Other appearances

• Performed his part in the Rage Against the Machine song "Know Your Enemy" when the bands toured together, as well as an untitled song that is often referred to by fans as "Revolution" or "Revolutionary." The nameless track is a collaboration between Rage and Tool. Also appears on the album version of "Know Your Enemy": his words are "Time has come to pay".
• Contributed the line "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin" to the novelty song "Three Little Pigs" by Green Jellÿ (whose leader was Maynard James Keenan's roommate, and the receiver of the death threats in the segues "Message to Harry Manback" and its sequel).
• Together with his friend Tori Amos, performed the song "Muhammad My Friend" during a live concert. "Muhammad My Friend" is from Tori's record Boys for Pele, and the live performance was released on a video called "Live in New York: the Concert For RAINN".
• Appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Underworld in the songs "Bring Me the Disco King" and "REV 22:20", as well as remixes of "Judith" (Mer de Noms) and "Weak and Powerless" (Thirteenth Step).
• Collaborator for the now cancelled "Tapeworm" project (side project of Nine Inch Nails bass player Danny Lohner and vocalist Trent Reznor). "Vacant," the one track to come out of the project, was performed live by A Perfect Circle on the Mer de Noms tour. "Vacant" was remixed as "Passive" on A Perfect Circle's 2004 release eMOTIVe.
• Has appeared on HBO's "Mr. Show with Bob and David."
• Also appeared on-screen in "Bikini Bandits" (2002) in the role of the Devil. Later appeared in a film called "Sleeping Dogs Lie" as a deputy police officer.
• Sang for Alice in Chains at a 2005 benefit concert in Seattle, replacing the deceased Layne Staley. He sang the songs "Them Bones", "Man in the Box", and "Rooster".
• Did a cover of KISS's "Calling Dr. Love" with Faith No More bassist Billy Gould, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, and drummer Brad Wilk as "Shandi's Addiction" for the tribute album KISS My Ass: Classic KISS Regrooved.
• Contributed vocals to the Deftones song "Passenger" off of the LP White Pony
• Recorded songs and made an apperance in the movie Run Ronnie Run as the singer of Titanica with Scott Ian.
• Contributed to the Axis of Justice Concert Series: Volume One album. Maynard performs in "Where the Streets have No Name" and "(What's so Funny 'bout) Peace, Love and Understanding." The rendition of the latter song is not the same as the A Perfect Circle version found on eMOTIVe.
• Director David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) offered Keenan a lead role in his film Panic Room, but he had to decline due to his commitments to Tool. The role ultimately went to Dwight Yoakam.
• Appeared as Deputy Lance in the 2005 short film "Sleeping Dogs Lie" alongside Ed Asner and Brad Wilk.

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