Joey Jordison

Nathan Jonas "Joey" Jordison (April 26, 1975 – July 26, 2021) was an American musician. He was the original drummer of the nu metal band Slipknot, in which he was designated #1, and the guitarist for the horror punk supergroup Murderdolls.

Jordison grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, with his parents and two sisters, and was given his first drum kit at the age of 8. He performed with many bands early in his career; then in 1995, he joined a band called the Pale Ones, which would later change their name and become Slipknot. Jordison played in Slipknot since its inception, helping form the band until his departure in December of 2013. Of Slipknot's nine-member lineup, which lasted from 1999–2010, Joey was the third to join the band. He was also the drummer and founder of Scar the Martyr, which formed in 2013 and disbanded in 2016.

With Slipknot, Jordison performed on the band's first four studio albums, and produced the 2005 live album 9.0: Live. Outside his major projects, Jordison performed with various other acts such as Rob Zombie, Metallica, Korn, Ministry, Otep, and Satyricon. Jordison was also known for his session work, which included performances on various recordings for many artists. Jordison used several drum brands including Pearl, and ddrum. At the time of his death, Jordison was playing in the blackened death metal supergroup Sinsaenum.

Early life

Jordison was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 26, 1975, to Steve and Jackie Jordison. He had two younger sisters. He grew up in a rural area outside of Waukee where he used to play basketball on the street in front of his house. He embraced music at an early age, which he attributes to his parents' influence: "They always sat me down in front of the radio, rather than the TV." He played guitar until receiving his first drum kit as a gift from his parents at age eight, and started his first band while in elementary school. Jordison was initially self-taught, but would later begin working with an instructor who taught him R&B and jazz techniques, which he attributed to his musical diversity and skill later in life.

Jordison's parents divorced when he was young. The children stayed with their mother. His mother remarried and set up a funeral parlor where Jordison would occasionally help. Jordison stated that he felt a sudden responsibility to be the man of the house. During this time, he formed the band Modifidious, in which he played drums. He later described them as "total speed-metal thrash". The band helped Jordison break new ground, playing live as support to local bands including Atomic Opera, featuring Jim Root, and Heads on the Wall, featuring Shawn Crahan. He also played at a bowling center his family owned, on a night called "Bowl-O-Rama". After a multitude of lineup changes—including Craig Jones and Josh Brainard, who would reappear in Slipknot—the band released two demos in 1993: Visceral and Mud Fuchia.

After leaving school, Jordison was hired by a local music store called Musicland. In March 1994, after a recommendation from his new friend, he got a job at a Sinclair garage in Urbandale. Jordison worked the night shift, which he preferred, as it left his weekends free and allowed him to spend time with his friends and listen to music while working. In early 1995, Modifidious disbanded because of a shift in interest from thrash metal to death metal in America. Following this Jordison joined a local band called the Rejects as a guitarist, with whom he only played a couple of shows. Jordison was also involved in a band with future bandmate Paul Gray and vocalist Don Decker, named Anal Blast. Gray also attempted to recruit him for another band, Body Pit, but he declined the invitation to remain in the Rejects. During the forming period of Slipknot, Paul recruited Joey to join a punk rock band called the Have Nots in the Spring of 1996. Joey would leave the Have Nots in February 1997 to "focus on Slipknot" but instead reformed the Rejects, which would play Des Moines up until Slipknot left to record their 1999 self-titled debut album, which Paul played in after the Have Nots broke up.

Career

Slipknot

In September 1995, Paul Gray approached Jordison while he was working, offering him a position in a new project called the Pale Ones. Intrigued and at a point where he was "lost", Jordison attended rehearsals at Anders Colsefni's basement and immediately wanted to be part of this new band. Speaking of this moment he said, "I remember trying so hard not to smile, so I didn't look like I wanted to join, I remained poker-faced, but I thought they ruled." A lot of Slipknot's early development was discussed by band members while Jordison worked night shifts at Sinclair's garage. Of the eventual nine members, Joey was the third to join the band. Slipknot would become pioneers to the new wave of American heavy metal. Jordison was accompanied by two custom percussionists, giving their music a feel that Rolling Stone touted as "suffocating".

Each member of Slipknot is assigned a number; Joey was assigned "#1". Joey produced one album with Slipknot, the 2005 live album 9.0: Live. In August 2008, Jordison broke his ankle and Slipknot had to cancel some of its English tour dates. On August 22, 2009, Jordison was taken to the emergency room for a burst appendix, less than an hour before he was to take the stage for Auburn, Washington's KISW Pain in the Grass concert. As a result, Slipknot canceled following shows in August and September, to give Jordison time to recover.

On December 12, 2013, Slipknot announced through their official website that Jordison had left the band, citing personal reasons for his departure. In response, Jordison released a statement insisting that he had in fact been fired from the band and stated that Slipknot "has been my life for the last 18 years, and I would never abandon it, or my fans".

After years of both sides being silent and evasive as to the reasons for his leaving the band, Jordison revealed in June 2016 that he suffered from transverse myelitis, a neurological disease that cost him the ability to play the drums toward the end of his time with Slipknot.

Murderdolls

While touring Ozzfest in 2001 to support Slipknot's studio album Iowa, Jordison met Tripp Eisen, then of Static-X; the two discussed forming a side project. In 2002, Jordison revived his band The Rejects, renaming them the Murderdolls. Jordison became the Murderdolls' guitarist, and he recruited Wednesday 13 of Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 to play bass. Wednesday eventually became a vocalist, while drummer Ben Graves and bassist Eric Griffin completed the band's lineup. Murderdolls signed with Roadrunner Records and released an EP entitled Right to Remain Violent in 2002. The band returned in August 2002 with their debut album Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls. The band uses horror films, including Friday the 13th and Night of the Living Dead, as an inspiration for their lyrics. On October 30, 2002, the Murderdolls made an appearance on an episode of Dawson's Creek entitled "Living Dead Girl". The band reunited in 2010 with only Jordison and Wednesday 13 remaining from the original line-up. The band released their second studio album Women & Children Last on August 31, 2010. The band embarked on the extensive Women & Children Last World Tour performing shows alongside many notable acts such as Guns N' Roses and performing around the world. The tour was plagued with many problems including the cancellation of many shows and repeated incidents of Jordison storming off stage, most notably in Bordeaux, France (attributed to extreme tinnitus) and Perth, Western Australia. The tour finished on April 24, 2011. This was considered to be the band's last outing as Wednesday 13 confirmed the band's split in an interview in 2013.

Scar the Martyr

In April 2013 details emerged of a new band featuring Jordison, Jed Simon and Kris Norris. Little else was released except that Jordison had performed most instruments in this project and that Chris Vrenna and an unknown vocalist were to complete keyboard and vocal work, respectively. On June 21 the band was named Scar the Martyr and the vocalist named as Henry Derek. On May 5, 2016, Jordison announced that the project had been disbanded.

Vimic

On May 5, 2016, Jordison announced in an interview on Sirius XM that he had launched a new band called Vimic. In an interview with Wall of Sound in 2018, Jordison explained Vimic was "still 100% active". The album Open Your Omen was recorded around 2018, but wasn't released until 2025, after Jordison's death.

Sinsaenum

On May 20, 2016, Jordison announced a new extreme metal band Sinsaenum, dual fronted by vocalist Attila Csihar (of Mayhem and Sunn O)))) along with keyboardist Sean Zitarsky (of Chimaira and Dååth). The band also included Jordison on drum duties, DragonForce bassist Frédéric Leclercq on guitar, Stéphane Buriez from Loudblast on guitar, and Heimoth from the band Seth on bass. They announced the launch of their debut album Echoes of the Tortured on July 29, and released their first single "Army Of Chaos" on earMUSIC's YouTube channel. The second album, called Repulsion for Humanity, was released on August 10, 2018.