**Slipknot** is a heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa.

History
-------

The band started in 1995 by vocalist and percussionist clown, guitarists Donnie Steele and Josh "Gnar" Brainard, bassist Paul Gray, drummer Joey Jordison,and percussionist Shawn Crahan. Before the band released its first album in 1999, Slipknot has gone through many line-up changes. After their first album, the line-up has stayed the same. The band is known for having a lot of members. The current members include a lead singer, two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, two percussionists, a sampler, and a turntablist.

In 1996, when the band finished recording their demo album *Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.*, Slipknot saw its first line-up change when guitarist Donnie Steele left the band and was replaced by Craig Jones. Shortly after, drummer Jordison said they needed a full-time sampler and Jones took the position as "he liked doing that anyway." Mick Thomson then joined the band to be the new guitarist. After *Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.* was released, the band continued working on new songs which needed more singing melody and the then-lead singer Colsefini had a hard time with this. In 1997, Corey Taylor was asked to join the band and after practicing with Slipknot "everything just clicked." Because of that, Colsefini was moved to backing vocals and percussion. However Colsefini was unhappy with his new role and left the band a month later.

Since the band wanted to keep their percussive sound, Greg Welts joined the band to replace Colsefini. Towards the end of 1997, each band member picked a number to identify themselves. In 1998, Welts became the only member to be kicked out of the band and he was replaced by Chris Fehn. Slipknot wanted to have a DJ in the band, but had a hard time finding one because "the people [they] knew who were DJs all sucked!" Sid Wilson approached the band after seeing them live. He proceeded to impress the band with his ability and his antics; Wilson was considered "Slipknot material" and his hiring brought the band's line-up to nine members. The final change in the band's line-up came at the latter stages of the recording process of the band's debut album, *Slipknot*, in 1999. While the band took a break from recording the album, Brainard decided to leave the band and was replaced by Jim Root.

Two more lineup changes took place over the years. The first was after the departure of Joey Jordison in December 2013. In early 2014, the late Paul Gray was replaced by Alessandro Venturella, and Jordison was replaced by Jay Weinberg, leaving Crahan as the only remaining original member. The second change occurred in mid 2019, after Chris Fehn was fired from the band. He was replaced by Michael Pfaff, who was originally dubbed by fans as "Tortilla Man".

Current members
---------------

Corey Taylor (#8)
Active: 1997–present
Plays: lead vocals
Performed in: all Slipknot albums from *Slipknot* (1999) to present
Taylor was asked to join the band in 1997. Slipknot's music needed more melodic singing which vocalist Anders Colsefini had a hard time doing. At first both Taylor and Colsefini sang lead vocals. However the band decided that Taylor would sing lead vocals alone and Colsefini was moved to backing vocals.
Mick Thomson (#7)
Active: 1996–present
Plays: guitar
Performed in: all Slipknot albums from *Slipknot* (1999) to present
Just after Craig Jones joined the band as a guitarist, the band decided that he would move to samples. Thomson then joined the band to be the new guitarist and has always played guitar.
Jim Root (#4)
Active: 1996–present
Plays: guitar
Performed in: all Slipknot albums from *Slipknot* (1999) to present
Jim Root joined the band in 1999 during the end of recording their first album, *Slipknot*. He was brought in to replace Josh Brainard on guitar and is the last member of the band's current line-up to have joined.
Alessandro Venturella
Active: 2014–present
Plays: bass, backing vocals
Performed in: .5 the Gray Chapter, We Are Not Your Kind ,The End So Far
Venturella Joined the band in 2014, replacing the late Paul Gray on bass guitar.
Shawn Crahan (#6)
Active: 1995–present
Plays: custom percussion, backing vocals
Performed in: all Slipknot albums
Shawn Crahan was a member of the original band formed in 1995 and was originally the only drummer for a short time.

  

Michael Pfaff
Active: 2019-present
Plays: Custom percussion
Performed in: We Are Not Your Kind
Introduced after percussionist Chris Fehn left in early 2019, he is best known as "the tortilla man" due to the appearance of his mask. Evidence points to his identity being Michael Pfaff, a skilled pianist and percussionist, but as of yet, Slipknot have not publicly revealed his identity, despite being seen with Pfaff.

* Vocalist Corey TaylorVocalist Corey Taylor
* Guitarist Mick ThomsonGuitarist Mick Thomson
* Guitarist Jim RootGuitarist Jim Root
* Bassist Paul GrayBassist Paul Gray
* Drummer Joey JordisonDrummer Joey Jordison
* Percussionist Shawn CrahanPercussionist Shawn Crahan
* Percussionist Chris FehnPercussionist Chris Fehn
* Sampler Craig JonesSampler Craig Jones
* DJ Sid WilsonDJ Sid Wilson

Slipknot band members performing in 2008.

Former members
--------------

Donnie Steele
Active: 1995–1996| 2012-2014
Played: guitar | bass
Performed in: *Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.* (1996)
Donnie Steele was a member of the original band formed in 1995. In February 1996, during the mixing process of *Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.*, Steele decided to leave the band. Steele said he was a "devout Christian" and realized that the band was no longer something he could be a part of.
Anders Colsefini
Active: 1995–1997
Played: lead vocals, custom percussion, backing vocals
Performed in: *Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.* (1996)
Anders Colsefini was a member of the original band formed in 1995. In 1997, Corey Taylor joined the band to share the lead vocals. Later the band decided that Taylor would sing lead vocals alone and Colsefini was moved to backing vocals. Unhappy with his new role in the band Colsefini left the band.
Greg Welts (#3)
Active: 1997–1998
Played: custom percussion, backing vocals
Performed in: Slipknot Demo
After Colsefini left the band, Greg Welts was brought in to replace him on percussion and backing vocals. In 1998, before the band was signed on to Roadrunner Records, Welts was kicked out from Slipknot.
Josh Brainard (#4)
Active: 1995–1999
Played: guitar
Performed in: *Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.* (1996), *Slipknot* (1999)
Josh Brainard was a member of the original band formed in 1995. Brainard left the band while they were recording *Slipknot* in 1999. No one knows why Brainard really left, it was widely thought to have been because of family problems. However Brainard denies these rumours, saying that; "some decisions were made that I wasn't particularly happy with."
**Paul Gray (#2)**
Active: 1995-2010
Played: Bass
Performed in: Every Slipknot record up until .5 the Gray Chapter
Gray was the original bass player, as well as a founding member of Slipknot. He died in 2010, and was temporarily replaced by Donnie Steele on tour, until the band found a permanent replacement.
**Joey Jordison (#1)**
Active: 1995-2013
Played: Drums
Performed in: Every Slipknot record up until .5 the Gray Chapter
Joey was the first drummer and one of the founders of the band, and was kicked from the band in December 2013, later revealed to be complications due to transverse myelitis, which cost him the ability to play the drums for a while. He died in July 2021. He was replaced for .5, by Jay Weinberg.
**Chris Fehn (#3)**
Active: 1998-2019
Played: Custom percussion, backing Vocals
Performed in: Every Slipknot record up until We Are Not Your Kind
Chris was the percussionist of Slipknot for over 20 years. After suing Shawn Crahan and Corey Taylor over unpaid royalties, he was fired from the band, being replaced by an enigmatic new member.
Craig Jones
Active: 1996-2023
Played: Samples, and keyboards
Performed in: Every current Slipknot release
Most recognizable by his spiked mask, Craig Jones was one of the most iconic members of the band for famously always being silent. Craig left the band on June 7, 2023.
Jay Weinberg
Active: 2014 - 2023
Played: Drums
Performed in: Every current Slipknot release starting from .5
After the departure of longtime drummer Joey Jordison, Slipknot brought in drummer Jay Weinberg to fill in.
Jay played with the band on .5: The Gray Chapter, We Are Not Your Kind, and The End, So Far.

Jay was fired from the band on November 5, 2023.

Sid Wilson (#0)
Active: 1998–2024
Plays: turntables
Performed in: all Slipknot releases from *Slipknot* (1999) to present
The band wanted to add a DJ to their line-up but decided not to because they didn't know anyone they thought was good enough. After seeing Slipknot perform live, Sid Wilson said "I knew I was born to be in this band." Wilson later met with the band to ask joining the band. After going to rehearsals and head-butting all the band members before a show, he was called "Slipknot material" and has stayed in the line-up until he decided to step away from the band to spend more time with his family on as announced April 1 2024.

Timeline
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Related pages
-------------

| * v
* t
* e
Slipknot |
| --- |
| 
* **Shawn Crahan**
* **Craig Jones**
* **Mick Thomson**
* **Corey Taylor**
* **Sid Wilson**
* **Chris Fehn**
* **Jim Root**
* **Alex Venturella**
* **Jay Weinberg**

* Donnie Steele
* Joey Jordison
* Paul Gray
* Brandon Darner
* (details)

 |
| Studio albums | 
* *Slipknot*
* *Iowa*
* *Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)*
* *All Hope Is Gone*
* *.5: The Gray Chapter*
* *We Are Not Your Kind*
* *The End, So Far*

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| Live albums | 
* *9.0: Live*
* *Day of the Gusano: Live in Mexico*

 |
| Compilation albums | 
* *Antennas to Hell*

 |
| Demo albums | 
* *Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.*

 |
| Singles | 
* "Wait and Bleed"
* "Spit It Out"
* "Left Behind"
* "My Plague"
* "Duality"
* "Vermilion"
* "Before I Forget"
* "All Hope Is Gone"
* "Psychosocial"
* "Dead Memories"
* "Sulfur"
* "Snuff"
* "The Negative One"
* "The Devil in I"
* "Custer"
* "Killpop"
* "XIX"
* "Goodbye"

 |
| Promotional singles | 
* "The Heretic Anthem"
* "Vermilion Pt. 2"
* "The Nameless"
* "Sarcastrophe"
* "AOV"
* "Skeptic"

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| Video albums | 
* *Welcome to Our Neighborhood*
* *Disasterpieces*
* *Voliminal: Inside the Nine*
* *(sic)nesses*

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| Tours | 
* World Domination Tour
* Tattoo the Earth
* Iowa World Tour
* The Subliminal Verses World Tour
* All Hope Is Gone World Tour
* Memorial World Tour
* Knotfest
* Summer's Last Stand Tour
* North America Fall Tour

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| Related articles | 

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Lists | 
* Awards
* Discography
* Members
* Songs

 |
| Articles | 
* *Behind the Mask*
* *Behind the Player: Paul Gray*
* *Infected*
* List of Slipknot tribute albums
* Nic Diederichs Technical High School slashing
* Outside the Nine
* *Roadrage 2003*
* *Rollerball*
* Tattered and Torn
* *Up to Our Necks*

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| Bands | 
* Dirty Little Rabbits
* Junk Beer Kidnap Band
* Murderdolls
* Stone Sour
* To My Surprise

 |
| Labels | 
* Big Orange Clown
* Great Big Mouth

 |

 |
| 
* Category

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