In the Spring of 2002, Sum 41 landed a spot for Slayer’s Kerry King on one of their songs. They redid an old Sum 41 track called ‘What We’re All About’ for the soundtrack of ‘Spider-Man.’
But here’s the question: Why did King take the risk of teaming up with a pop-punk band and maybe upsetting metal fans? In a new interview with Metal Hammer, King explained he accepted the offer simply because he hoped fans would see Slayer as a better band:
“Any time I do something like that I’m hoping to better Slayer in a world perspective. Maybe kids seeing Sum 41, you know, can see me play and say, ‘Hey, who’s that guy? Where’d he come from?’ and maybe they’ll check us out for the first time. So that’s why I do stuff like that.”
King Turned Down The Offer Ten Times
This might be an unexpected crossover, but in reality, King refused to collaborate with Sum 41 ten times before finally accepting it.
In another interview with Metal Hammer, King admitted that his collaboration with Sum 41 was more about his career than expressing his creativity. It seems King isn’t too proud of those choices now, looking back after all these years. He said:
“It was my record label that wanted me to do it. I turned it down 10 times!”
The rocker then explained what caused him to finally accept the offer:
“A friend of mine at the label came to me at an angle that I just couldn’t argue with. He was like, ‘Well, you know you played on the Beastie Boys record [1987’s ‘License to Ill’].’ F*ck! he’s got a point! That was my epiphany.”
King also mentioned Slayer’s time during the transition around the turn of the century when nu-metal was rising.
You can hear the Kerry King featured version of the song down below.