Joey Jordison, Slipknot Drummer, Dead at 46

Joey Jordison, former drummer of Slipknot, has died at the age of 46. Jordison’s family issued a statement on Tuesday, revealing that the beloved musician died on Monday. “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,” the statement read. “Joey’s death has left us with empty hearts and feelings of indescribable sorrow.

The statement continued, “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 was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, where he would grow up to be a co-founder of Slipknot along with percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan and bassist Paul Gray. The band rose to fame in the late ’90s and early as a groundbreaking nu-metal band, but quickly earned praise and acclaim for breaking out of the standard musical criteria allocated to many other nu-metal bands. As a member of Slipknot, Jordison was nominated for seven Grammy’s, winning the Best Metal Performance award in 2006 for the band’s song “Before I Forget.”

Jordison exited Slipknot in 2013, with no explanation given as to why. He later stated that he did not choose to leave the band, indicating — but not explicitly saying — that he was fired or asked to leave. He eventually shared that he’d been diagnosed with transverse myelitis, a neurological disease that impacted his ability to play drums near the end of his time with Slipknot.

In addition to Slipknot, Jordison was also a member of horror punk/metal band Murderdolls, which also featured famed punk singer Wednesday 13. After his exit, from Slipknot, Jordison played in a few new bands, such as Scar the Martyr and Vimic. Before his death, he was the drummer for Sinsaenum, an extreme metal supergroup that also featured Attila Csihar of Mayhem, Sean Zitarsky of Chimaira, and Frédéric Leclercq of Dragonforce. Jordison also played with other heavy metal icons such as Metallica, Ministry, Korn, and Rob Zombie.

Sadly, Jordison is not the first member of Slipknot to pass away. Gray died in 2010, with an autopsy report citing “an overdose of morphine and fentanyl,” as well as “signs of ‘significant heart disease.’” At this time there is no word on Jordison’s official cause of death.