Joey Jordison, co-founder of American band Slipknot and one of the most important drummers in the metal scene, has died at the age of 46, his family said in a statement on Tuesday.
One of the three co-founders of Slipknot had contributed to the notoriety in the years 2000 of this group composed of nine musicians.
Known for their horror masks and warmer suits for stage costumes, they had emerged on the metal scene in the mid-1990s with an even more aggressive sound that had become a commercial hit and influenced future generations.
A tense break with Slipknot
Behind the onstage pantomimes and escapades was a technically mastered band, propelled by Joey Jordison's high-speed drums and relentless beats as well as his talents for writing some of the band's best-known songs. Slipknot worked with legendary producer Rick Rubin for his third album and won his first Grammy in 2006.
But Joey Jordison had his moment of individual glory when he was voted the best drummer of the last 25 years by readers of the magazine
Rythm
devoted to the drums, in 2010. He had left Slipknot under tense circumstances in 2013, accusing the group. for having kicked him out.
He was later revealed to have a neurological disease, transverse myelitis, which affected his ability to play the drums.
In recent interviews, he claimed to have been able to return to the drums thanks to intense physical therapy.
His side projects included Murderdolls, Scar the Martyr, Vimic and Sinsaenum and he also played live drums for many major metal bands like Metallica, Korn and Rob Zombie.
The world of music pays homage to him
Metallica paid tribute to Joey Jordison, posting a photo of the drummer on his Facebook page with the words "Rest in peace, brother."
Other great metal musicians also posted tributes, highlighting his technique and the influence he had on their own bands.
“Joey's contributions to music changed the face of heavy music on the planet,” Trivium lead musician Matt Heafy wrote.
“An absolute legend who changed the game not only for drums, but for metal music as a whole,” added popular metal youtuber Nik Nocturnal.
Jordison's former Slipknot comrades Corey Taylor and Shawn Crahan both posted black squares to their Twitter accounts after news of the drummer's death was announced.
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