Slipknot Black Out Social Media in Honor of Joey Jordison
Slipknot members Corey Taylor, M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan, and Jim Root have all posted black squares on their social media accounts in honor of Joey Jordison, who died yesterday at just 46 years old. The band’s official channels also went completely black after the news broke earlier today:
Jordison was the third member to join Slipknot in 1995, then known as The Pale Ones. He played on Slipknot’s first four albums, beginning with their self-titled effort in 1999 and ending with All Hope is Gone in 2008. He was widely respected as one of the top drummers in metal and was universally beloved by fans.
The news of his death was revealed earlier today by his family, although no cause of death was revealed. In a public statement, they said:
“We are heartbroken to share the news that Joey Jordison, prolific drummer, musician and artist passed away peacefully in his sleep on July 26th, 2021. He was 46.
“Joey’s death has left us with empty hearts and feelings of indescribable sorrow.
“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 will hold a private funeral service and asks the media and public to respect their wishes.”
Jordison said in 2016 that he was suffering from a rare neurological disorder that made it difficult for him to play drums, claiming the band fired him as a result of it. He explained:
“Towards [the] end of my career in Slipknot—and I want you all to give praise to them as well. We accomplished a lot in life, every one of them, and I wish them nothing but luck and the best of praises. Cause what we created in the basements of Des Moines, Iowa will never be matched. It’s one thing that is fucking absolutely fucking unbeatable. I love those guys very much…Towards the end of my career in Slipknot, I got really, really sick with a horrible disease called transverse myelitis. I lost my legs. I couldn’t play anymore. It was a form of multiple sclerosis, which I don’t wish on my worst enemy. I got myself back up, and I got myself in the gym, and I got myself back in fucking therapy to fucking beat this shit. And if I could do it, you could do it. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, more than fucking anything.
“To people with multiple sclerosis, transverse myelitis, or anything like that, I am living proof that you can fucking beat that shit. And fucking metal and all of these fans will do it for you. This is the fucking world right here. You can beat this shit; no joke. Just the fact that metal lives in your heart, you can fucking accomplish anything.”
Slipknot themselves never explained why they dismissed Jordison, but the split was seemingly not amicable. In 2017, Jordison said, “I would never have quit Slipknot, ever.” The closest Slipknot came to shedding light on Jordison’s dismissal came from Taylor in a 2014 interview. He said at the time:
“I can’t talk too much about it because we’re going through the legalities of everything right now and settling everything, but it’s when a relationship hits that T-section and one person’s going one way and you’re going the other. And try as you might to either get them to go your way or try and go their way, at some point you’ve got to go in the direction that works for you. This is me speaking in the broadest terms, with respect to Joey. I guess to sum it up, it was one of the hardest decisions we ever made.
“We’re all happy right now and we hope that he is. I’ve known him since ’91, and that was before we were in bands together, and he’s incredibly talented; he’s just in a place in his life, right now, that’s not where we are… in the nicest terms.”
Metal Hammer then tried to dig a little deeper, asking Taylor if drugs had anything to do with Jordison’s dismissal, and he responded:
“There’s only so far that I can give an explanation. For me, that has to be a sign of growing up, because before I would’ve just railed at whatever I thought the supposed evil was, but now it’s like, how do you explain to the fans? And that’s the hardest part, because no matter what explanation you give, it’s not gonna make them happy. I’m sure there are fans out there who have their own theories about it.”
Jordison also played guitar in the Murderdolls, and after his time in Slipknot he played drums in Sinsaenum, Vimic and Scar the Martyr.
R.I.P. to a legend. On behalf of everyone at MetalSucks, we wish Joey’s family, friends and bandmates all the best.
