Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan has officially weighed in on his music being the soundtrack for one of the most terrifying athletic feats in recent history. Last month, “Free Solo” star Alex Honnold stunned the world by scaling the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan without the use of ropes—a record-breaking stunt broadcast live on Netflix.
Shortly after completing the ascent on January 25, Honnold revealed that he relied on a carefully curated playlist to keep his rhythm during the climb. The mix, titled “T101,” was heavily dominated by Tool, featuring eight complex tracks from the band’s catalog including “Lateralus,” “Schism,” “The Grudge,” and “Pneuma.”
In a new interview with ABC, Keenan shared his reaction to unwittingly providing the audio backdrop for a life-or-death situation. When asked about the climber’s musical choice, the singer joked about the flood of messages he received while the stunt was airing.
“Not everybody and their mother texted me every three seconds telling me about it or anything,” Keenan quipped.
Despite the humor, Keenan expressed genuine awe—and terror—at Honnold‘s ability to perform under such pressure.
“What the heck were you thinking, dude? It’s impressive! It’s extremely impressive, but, I mean, I wouldn’t make it past the first floor. I would fall to my death.”
When the interviewer asked if he would ever consider taking a more direct role in one of Honnold’s future climbs, Keenan immediately shut down the idea of participating, preferring to stay grounded in safety.
“I’ll be the guy down below eating french fries making fun of him.”
According to Honnold, the decision to load his playlist with Tool wasn’t just about motivation; it was a mathematical strategy. Speaking to Variety shortly after the climb, Honnold explained that the specific lengths of Tool‘s prog-metal epics helped him track his speed up the 101-story building.
“It was mostly Tool. It’s a random playlist that I made, that I shared with production. I made it months ago while I was driving. I’ve been training to it a bunch. Basically, rock music that I’ve liked my whole life. Part of the appeal of music is that actually it helps me with pacing,” Honnold said.
“Each bamboo box had been taking me about five to six and a half minutes. I just know how long the songs are. So it gives you a sense of if you’re going fast or slow. But in this case, it all kept cutting out anyway, and I couldn’t really hear and I was kind of like, ‘Whatever. I’m just doing my thing.’”
While Tool anchored the setlist with tracks like “Forty Six & 2,” “Ænema,” “Invincible,” and “Parabola,” Honnold‘s mix also featured heavy hitters from across the rock and metal spectrum.
The playlist included six songs from gold-certified rockers Nothing More, as well as cuts from Chevelle (“Rabbit Hole – Cowards, Pt. 1“), The Offspring (“Session“), Senses Fail (“Choke On This“), and post-hardcore vets The Used (“Men Are All The Same,” “Hands And Faces“). Linkin Park also made the cut with “The Emptiness Machine” and “Papercut.”
