When Cannibal Corpse’s Frontman Got “Owned By Cher”

Corpegrinder by Andreas Lawen. Via Wikipedia.
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It’s hard to imagine anyone out-metaling George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher. As the frontman of seminal death metal act Cannibal Corpse, the guy bellows like a buffalo being fed into a meat grinder and headbangs like his vertebrae were reconstructed for the purpose. But even a dude as hardcore as Corpsegrinder can find himself getting shown up by some of music’s greatest, and in a story recounted by the vocalist, he got thoroughly owned trying to josh a famous pop star — Cher, of all people.

The story comes from an interview with Metal Hammer from March, in which Corpsegrinder recounted the story of performing for Elijah Blue Allman, Cher’s son with Greg Allman who also plays guitar in industrial metal act Deadsy. A huge Cannibal Corpse fan, Elijah asked the band to come play his birthday party at the Viper Room about 15 or 20 years ago. Because Corpsegrinder’s birthday is only a couple of days before Elijah’s, George and his wife Stacy decided to head out to California and bum around for a few days. It was there that George met the “I Got You Babe” singer — and got shut down by her.

“The day before the show, Elijah invited us up to Cher’s house,” says Fisher. “When we got there, she wasn’t there – she was out shopping. I was like, ‘Yeah, of course Cher’s out shopping.’ But I didn’t know that she came back. I was talking to Elijah, and my wife starts hitting me on the arm. I go, ‘What?’ And she just whispers: ‘Cher!’ I’m like, ‘Ok, that’s cool, but it’s not like meeting King Diamond or Chuck Billy’, cause I’m in awe of those guys.

“She was super-nice,” he continued. “We’re there and Cher is making food for us, and stuff. She came to the show as well. I apologized to her for having to listen to Cannibal Corpse, but she was like, ‘No, I liked it.’ I’m, like, ‘Come on Cher, do the metal sign.’ And she goes, ‘Honey, I was metal before you were born.’

“I’m like, ‘Damn – I just got owned by Cher!’”

Whether or not Fisher got to try on the “If I Could Turn Back Time” outfit wasn’t specified. But that’s what fanfiction is for.

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Words by Chris Krovatin