HELLYEAH and MUDVAYNE frontman Chad Gray discussed his views on religion and spirituality during a recent appearance on the “Making Waves, The ShipRocked Podcast”. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I am spiritual, and I believe in something bigger than me, and I believe in something bigger than us, but I am not religious at all. I can’t get behind religion — the judgmental aspects of it. And I hope people don’t hate me now because I’m saying this. ‘Cause I have a relationship, but I have a relationship with what I wanna have a relationship with, not what somebody’s telling me that I have to have a relationship with. You shoud be able to, on some level, build it on your terms.”
He continued: “The Ten Commandments, those are pretty important. You don’t have to be religious to not wanna kill people, or not lie, so I kind of live my life by that — by the Commandments. It’s just, like, do the right thing. You don’t even really need those written out to know not to wanna do that. So I do have a level of spirituality inside of me. And I have a connection with something. I’m very grateful, in my life, for… As turbulent as my life has been at times, something’s always carried me through it. But I think that’s just a belief in something larger.”
Last month, MUDVAYNE announced that it was reuniting after a 12-year hiatus, and will be performing at all four Danny Wimmer Presents U.S. festivals in 2021: Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival (a headlining performance) in Ohio, Louder Than Life in Kentucky, Aftershock in California and Welcome To Rockville in Florida. These dates mark the band’s first shows since 2009 and their only dates this year.
MUDVAYNE formed in 1996 and has sold over six million records worldwide, earning gold certification for three albums (“L.D. 50”, “The End Of All Things To Come”, “Lost And Found”). The band is known for its sonic experimentation, innovative album art, face and body paint, masks and uniforms. MUDVAYNE is Gray, Greg Tribbett (guitar, backing vocals), Matthew McDonough (drums, synthesizer) and Ryan Martinie (bass).
In March, Gray released a solo single, a cover of “Always On My Mind” — a song made famous by Willie Nelson. The track was originally recorded for his fall 2020 wedding to SiriusXM on-air personality Shannon Gunz.
