Robert Trujillo’s 12-Year-Old Son Will Play Bass for Korn on Upcoming Tour

Due to “unforeseen circumstances” Korn bassist Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu will be unable to participate in the band’s upcoming tour of South America. In his place will be Tye Trujillo, the 12-year-old son of Metallica (ex-Suicidal Tendencies, ex-Ozzy) bassist Robert Trujillo.

Shocked? So are we. We can only imagine there are an army of qualified bassists who’d donate a nut for a chance to play with Korn, ranging from well-known players (Ryan Martinie of Mudvayne, for example, who filled in for Fieldy a few years ago) to complete unknowns. But the gig belongs to Trujillo — who plays in a band back home called The Helmets — until Fieldy rejoins Korn on May 6th at the Rock on the Range festival in Ohio.

Says Korn via Facebook:

On April 17 Korn is heading down to South America for a run of dates in Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Fieldy is unable to make the shows so the band will be joined by a special guest. Filling in for bass duties will be Tye Trujillo, the 12-year old son of Metallica’s Robert Trujillo and member of NorCal group The Helmets. Says the band, “We are bummed Fieldy can’t join us on this run but excited to do a few gigs with a young player like Tye. We look forward to welcoming our brother Fieldy back when we return to the States in May.”

Fieldy will resume Korn’s 2017 tour at Carolina Rebellion on May 6.

The whole thing strikes me as a bit odd — I’m sure Tye is every bit the qualified player (I can’t imagine Korn would’ve had him on otherwise), but it’s gonna look a bit odd to have a 12-year-old up there with a very established bunch of guys in their 40s. Still, good for him, I suppose: if he’s looking into a career as a professional musician, there’s no better trial than this!

Here’s Tye performing with The Helmets — with special guest, his dad — at the BottleRock Napa Valley Music Festival in 2016:

At least the kid’s got a sick windmill!

The shows at which Trujillo will fill in are as follows:

4/17 — Bogota, Colombia — Carpa Conferias
4/19 — Sao Paulo, Brazil — Espaco Das Americas
4/21 — Curitiba, Brazil — Net Live Curitiba
4/23 — Porto Alegre, Brazil — Pepsi on Stage
4/25 — Buenos Aires, Argentina — EST Obras Sanitarias
4/27 — Santiago, Chile — Teatro Caupolican