Slipknot's Clown Talks Mental Health After Chester Bennington & Chris Cornell Deaths

The recent suicides of Linkin Park's Chester Bennington and Soundgarden/Audioslave's Chris Cornell have inspired Slipknot's Shawn "Clown" Crahan to speak out about mental health and depression.

"My friends are dying and I can’t take that anymore," the metal band's drummer told NME, before making a plea to general public for more empathy, compassion and reaching out if you need help:

"I'm so saddened by the pain, the loneliness and the isolation. I'm not sure what happened. I'm not in people's minds, but it's a frightening thought to know that someone has something else on their mind that you don't know. I just want to say how sorry I am and how much love I have for the families of what’s been going on recently.

"To the general public, just remember the people around you. You might not know what they're thinking so it’s always nice to be checked in on, and to check in on people...What people need to know is that there are beautiful, wonderful people out there in the world who have empathy and work with the human condition. They understand what being 'sick' is. It’s not a human being’s fault to have chemical imbalances. We're just scared. The people who you think are the most solid are often the most hurt. That can be hard to wrap your head around."