Maynard James Keenan Caused An ‘Emotional Breakdown’ In The Studio, Tool Employee Recalls The Moment

In an interview with Dean Delray, famous studio engineer of Tool, ‘Evil’ Joe Barresi shared an intense moment he experienced when Maynard James Kenaan sang ‘Wings for Marie’ which lead Joe to the verge of emotional breakdown.

Four-Grammy awarded band Tool was founded by Maynard James Keenan, Adam Jones, Danny Carey, and Paul D’Amour, who was later replaced by the bassist Justin Chancellor. Throughout their career, Tool released five studio albums, ‘Undertow,’ ‘Ænima,‘ ‘Lateralus,’ ‘10,000 Days,’ and most recently, ‘Fear Inoculum.’ One of the songs in ‘10,000 Days,’ ‘Wings for Marie’ had a special meaning for the band’s frontman since he dedicated the song to his late mother, Judith Marie Keenan.

What Happened To Keenan’s Mother Which Affected His Entire Career

A couple of years after his birth, Maynard’s parents, Judith Marie and Micael Loren got divorced. Unfortunately, his mother suffered a ruptured cerebral aneurysm which caused a paralyzing subarachnoid hemorrhage while Keenan was only 11 years old.

Unfortunately, in 2003, his mother passed away due to complications from an aneurysm. After her death, Maynard decided to scatter her ashes in his vineyard. He even named his Caduceus Cellars’ first wine after his mother, ‘Nagual del Judith.’

How Maynard’s Mother Inspired Tool’s ‘Wings For Marie’

Throughout his music career, the talented musician influenced by the unfortunate incident that bound his mother to a wheelchair for 27 years until her death. Tool’s fourth studio album, ‘10,000 Days,’ included the tragic story of Maynard losing one of the most important persons in his life.

The song titled ‘Wings for Marie‘ was dedicated to Keenan’s mother and her struggle with the disease for years until her death. The title of the album was also a reference to Judith’s 27-year-suffering, which was Saturn’s orbital period – 10,000 days. His mother’s influence on his music can be also seen in A Perfect Circle’s ‘Judith,’ which was released as the lead single of the band’s debut album, ‘Mer de Noms.’

In a recent interview he joined, Tool producer ‘Evil’ Joe Barresi looked back to the time they were recording Tool’s ‘Wings for Marie.’ Joe stated that hearing Maynard’s performance of the song about his mother led him to the verge of an emotional breakdown which was very rare in the studio. Barresi mentioned that he could tell that Keenan was drained since the song meant so much to him.

Here is what Joe Barresi stated about Maynard James Keenan’s emotional performance:

“I saw him in the studio when he sang ‘Wings for Marie,’ about his mom, on ‘10,000 days.’ I was on the verge of an emotional breakdown at that point. It’s very rare in the studio. You try to get the vibe right and you have the singer sing, and a lot of times you get an amazing performance but sometimes singers go in thinking, ‘I’ll just do it five or six times and we’ll comp it.’ But he sang that song and you could tell he was drained because it meant so much to him, and I was listening to the lyrics and what he’s singing and how he’s singing it.”

You can watch the entire interview on Youtube below.