Slipknot Live

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Lore & Background

The band solidified its nine-piece lineup featuring Corey Taylor on vocals, Mick Thomson and Jim Root on guitars, Paul Gray on bass, Joey Jordison on drums, Shawn "Clown" Crahan and Chris Fehn on percussion, Sid Wilson on turntables, and Craig Jones on samples. This configuration delivered the self-titled debut in June 1999, which reached number 51 on the US Billboard 200 and earned double platinum certification. By 2001, Iowa topped the UK Albums Chart and hit number 3 in the US. The band also released Voliminal: Inside the Nine in December 2006 as their third video album. Tragedy struck on May 24, 2010, when bassist Paul Gray died from an accidental overdose of morphine and fentanyl.

In Their Own Story

In September 2010, Slipknot dedicated their fourth video album to the memory of Paul Gray, documenting a performance at the Download Festival in 2009. This release topped the Music Video charts in both the US and the UK. The band continued to evolve after Gray's death; founding guitarist Donnie Steele returned on bass for touring in 2011 before Alessandro Venturella took over in 2014 alongside new drummer Jay Weinberg. They released .5: The Gray Chapter that October, which topped the Billboard 200. Longtime percussionist Chris Fehn was fired after suing for withheld payments prior to the August 9, 2019 release of We Are Not Your Kind, their third consecutive number one album on the US Billboard 200 and first UK number one since Iowa. Michael Pfaff replaced Fehn, recording his first album with the group for The End, So Far, released September 30, 2022.

Reader's Guide

Fans can trace the band's live evolution through specific releases starting with Welcome to Our Neighborhood in 1999 and Disasterpieces in 2002. For a look at the band's internal dynamics, Voliminal: Inside the Nine was released in December 2006. The tribute to Paul Gray is found in the fourth video album from the 2009 Download Festival. Key singles like "Duality," "Vermilion," and "Before I Forget" supported their third studio album in 2004, while later hits included "Psychosocial," "Dead Memories," and "Snuff." As of 2019, the band had sold 30 million units worldwide. The final Roadrunner Records release, The End, So Far, arrived in September 2022.

Did You Know?

• Slipknot's self-titled debut album reached number 51 on the US Billboard 200 and was certified double platinum by the RIAA.
• The fourth video album released in September 2010 documented a performance at the Download Festival in 2009 and topped Music Video charts in both the US and UK.
• We Are Not Your Kind, released on August 9, 2019, was Slipknot's first number one album on the UK Albums Chart since Iowa in 2001.
• Founding member Paul Gray died of an accidental overdose of morphine and fentanyl on May 24, 2010.
• The band replaced percussionist Chris Fehn with Michael Pfaff for the recording of their seventh studio album, The End, So Far.