Free Soloist Alex Honnold Breaks World Record With An Assist From Tool

World famous free soloist Alex Honnold just scaled the 1,667 ft (508m) tall Taipei 101 with a surprising aural companion: Tool. Honnold made the trek—the highest free solo climb of an urban structure—listening to a playlist comprised primarily of tracks from the Grammy-winning prog-metal stalwarts.

In an interview with Variety, the subject of music came up. Honnold made the climb equipped with only a bag a chalk and earbuds to communicate with the production team. To pass the time, Honnold listened to music.

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. 

In addition to keeping the energy up, the Tool tracks served a more utilitarian purpose:

Part of the appeal of music is that actually it helps me with pacing. 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.

The climb was documented in Skyscraper Live a live broadcast on Netflix. Honnold completed the climb in one hour and 35 minutes—not much longer than the full digital version of Fear Inoculum. Ironically, the earbuds proved more troublesome than the climb itself:

...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.'

In 2016, scientists took to studying Honnold's brain to better understand his hunger for death-defying stunts. An fMRI brain scan revealed Honnold's amygdala—the brain's fear center—remains inert when exposed to fear stimuli. Essentially, Honnold does not feel fear. Or at least, his brain doesn't process it the way humans typically do. Still, Honnold's physiological quirk makes him only marginally stranger than the average Tool fan.

Members of Tool have been plenty busy in recent months. Singer Maynard James Keenan band Puscifer will release their new album Normal Isn't on February 6th and the first issue of its accompanying graphic novel, Tales from the Pusciverse, is out now. Meanwhile, guitarist Adam Jones has leant his talents to the world of wrestling. Drummer Danny Carey has been performing King Crimson's 80's catalog live as part of BEAT along with Steve Vai, Tony Levin, and Adrian Belew. BEAT will tour Europe starting in June. Tool will play the closing night of Sonic Temple on Sunday May 17th before reconvening in September for their fall North American tour.

Tool's latest, the Grammy-winning Fear Inoculum is out now on Tool Dissectional/Volcano/RCA Records.

Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival
05/17 Columbus, Ohio @ Historic Crew Stadium

TOOL FALL TOUR 2026
09/22 Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life Festival
10/03 Loveland, CO @ Budweiser Events Center
10/06 Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock Festival
10/08 Indio, CA @ Power Trip
10/11 Salt Lake City, UT @ Delta Center
10/12 Idaho Falls, ID @ Mountain America Center
10/14 Nampa, ID @ Ford Idaho Center
10/15 Spokane, WA @ Spokane Arena
10/17 Eugene, OR @ Matthew Knight Center
10/19 Portland, OR @ Moda Center
10/20 Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome
10/22 Kelowna, BC @ Prospera Place Arena
10/23 Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
10/25 Edmonton, AB @ Rogers Place
10/27 Calgary, AB @ Scotiabank Saddledome
10/29 Winnipeg, MB @ Canada Life Center
10/31 St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
11/01 Milwaukee, WI @ Fiserv Forum
11/03 Knoxville, TN @ Thompson-Boling Arena
11/04 Charleston, WV @ Charleston Coliseum
11/06 Rochester, NY @ Blue Cross Arena
11/07 Allentown, PA @ PPL Center
11/10 Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
11/13 Manchester, NH @ SNHU Arena
11/15 Boston, MA @ TD Garden
11/16 Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
11/19 Montreal, QC @ Bell Center
11/20 Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
11/21 Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena

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