Joey Jordison, founding drummer for Slipknot, dead at 46

Joey Jordison, one of the founding members of heavy metal band Slipknot, died Monday, a representative for his family said. He was 46.

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The family representative did not give a cause of death but said that Jordison died peacefully in his sleep, Rolling Stone reported.

“Joey’s death has left us with empty hearts and feelings of indescribable sorrow,” Jordison’s family said in a statement. “To those that knew Joey, understood his quick wit, his gentle personality, giant heart, and his love for all things family and music. The family of Joey have asked that friends, fans, and media understandably respect our need for privacy and peace at this incredibly difficult time.”

The family said it will hold a private service, Rolling Stone reported.

Jordison, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, co-founded Slipknot in 1995 with percussionist Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray, the Des Moines Register reported.

The group originally called themselves the Pale Ones and then Meld before changing their name to Slipknot, according to Rolling Stone. Jordison, who co-wrote many of the band’s biggest hits, left the group in December 2013, Billboard reported.

Slipknot had three top 10 songs on the Billboard 200, including one No. 1 -- “All Hope Is Gone” in 2008. That album also was atop the Top Rock Albums and Hard Rock Albums charts. With Jordison, Slipknot also claimed four top 10s on Mainstream Rock Airplay, including “Snuff,” which reached No. 2 in March 2010.

The band announced it as a “parting of ways,” but Jordison contended he was fired.

“No band meeting? None. Anything from management? No, nothing,” Jordison said in a 2016 interview with Metal Hammer. “All I got was a stupid (expletive) email saying I was out of the band that I busted my (expletive) my whole life to (expletive) create.”

In 2016, Jordison said that his departure coincided with his getting sick with a disease called transverse myelitis, Billboard reported. He said his bandmates confused his medical issues with substance abuse, the website reported.

“I lost my legs,” Jordison said onstage at the 2016 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards. “I couldn’t play anymore. It was a form of multiple sclerosis, which I don’t wish on my worst enemy.”

Jordison’s drumming with Slipknot was a key feature of the band, which at one point expanded to nine members, Variety reported. His pounding rhythms and endurance, coupled with the group’s extensive touring and explosive shows on Ozzfest, helped make the group’s self-titled debut album in 1999 go double-platinum, Rolling Stone reported.

Slipknot was noted for its nightmarish masks and the ability to blend heavy metal and rap, the website reported.

The group began working with producer Rick Rubin on their 2004 album, “Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses” and won their first Grammy Award in 2006, Variety reported.

Internal problems and Gray’s death from a drug overdose in 2010 led to Jordison’s departure.

After leaving Slipknot, Jordison formed Scar the Martyr shortly, which broke up in 2016, Variety reported. He joined Sinsaenum shortly after the breakup and played with them until his death, the website reported.


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