Slipknot co-founder and drummer Joey Jordison has died

Joey Jordison was with the rest of the guys in Des Moines, Iowa when Slipknot first came together in 1995. He served as a drummer for the band until 2013 when he left under murky circumstances. At the time, he said he didn’t leave voluntarily.

Word came Monday (July 26) that Jordison had died in his sleep. He was just 46.

No cause of death was given, although Jordison had spoken of a neurological disorder that made drumming difficult. He cited that as part of the reason he was let go from Slipknot.

Slipknot posted this on social media, which kind of says everything.

Jordison also played guitar in a band called Murderdolls and drums in another group called Scar the Martyr. Most recently, he was in the extreme metal band, Sinsaenum.

This has been a bad stretch for musicians. John Hutchison, a guitarist and early David Bowie collaborator, died earlier this week. And then Metal Church singer Mike Howe passed away at age 55. Before him was Robbie Steinhardt, a member of Kansas, who died on July 17. The day before that, it was Biz Markie. And today, of course, we heard about the passing of ZZ Top bass player, Dusty Hill.