Slipknot is an American metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. Formed in 1995, the group was founded by percussionist Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray. After several lineup changes in their early days, the band consisted of nine members for the greater part of their tenure: Sid Wilson, Paul Gray, Joey Jordison, Chris Fehn, Jim Root, Craig Jones, Shawn Crahan, Mick Thomson, and Corey Taylor. However, the death of Paul Gray on May 24, 2010, left the band with only eight remaining members. Former guitarist Donnie Steele will be the band's touring bassist in 2011.
Slipknot is well known by their attention-grabbing image, aggressive music style and their energetic and chaotic live shows. The band had somewhat of a meteoric rise to success following the release of their self-titled debut album in 1999. The 2001 follow-up album Iowa further increased the band's popularity. After breaking for their first hiatus, Slipknot returned in 2004 with Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) and once again in 2008 with their fourth album All Hope Is Gone, which debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200. The band has also released one live album and four DVDs. As of May 2010, Slipknot has sold over 14 million records worldwide.
History
Early days (1995–1998)
Slipknot was formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in September 1995 when drummer Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray started a band named The Pale Ones.[1] The lineup was made up of friends who met through the local music scene, including vocalist Anders Colsefni and guitarist Donnie Steele.[1] Not long after their inception, Gray invited Joey Jordison to a rehearsal because the band were interested in experimenting with additional drum elements. Jordison subsequently joined the band as their main drummer, moving Crahan to custom percussion.[1] Furthermore, Colsefni also took up custom percussion while remaining the band's vocalist. The band then decided to invite Josh Brainard as their second guitarist, bringing their lineup to six members.[2] On December 4, the band made their live debut; playing a benefit show using the name Meld.[3]
Much of the band's early development was retrospectively attributed to late-night planning sessions between Gray, Crahan and Jordison at a Sinclair gas station where Jordison worked nights. It was there, in late 1995, that Jordison suggested changing the band name to Slipknot after their song of the same name.[2] In December, Slipknot began recording material at SR Audio, a studio in the band's hometown.[4] Without a recording budget, the band were forced to self-finance the project, the costs of which came to an estimated $40,000.[5] In February 1996, guitarist Donnie Steele decided to leave Slipknot due to his Christian beliefs. When questioned in 1999 about Steele's departure, Jordison explained: "we were prepared to keep him on, but he didn't want to stay." During the mixing stages of their project at SR Audio, Craig Jones was recruited as Steele's replacement on guitar.[6] However, throughout their time in the studio, the band were adding samples to their recordings but could not produce these sounds live. Subsequently, Jones became the band's sampler and Mick Thomson was brought in as the replacement guitarist.[7] After a complicated time with mixing and mastering, the band self-released the demo album Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. on Halloween, October 31, 1996.[8]
 |  29 second sample from the song "Slipknot" which the band was eventually named after. Slipknot's earlier music was slower than their later material and vocalist Colsefni had a much deeper vocal style than that of Taylor.[9] |
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Distribution for the demo was initially left to the band and their producer Sean McMahon, before it was handed over to the distribution company Ismist in early 1997.[10] Slipknot received a small amount of airplay on local radio stations off the back of the demo. However, it didn't lead to any kind of interest from record labels, so the band returned to the studio to develop new material.[10] It was at this time that the band began experimenting with more vocal melody, something which Colsefni struggled to achieve. As a result, Corey Taylor was recruited from fellow Des Moines band Stone Sour; this moved Colsefni to backing vocals and percussion.[11] While working in the studio, Slipknot continued to do local shows, during one of which in September 1997, Colsefni announced on stage that he was leaving the band.[12] The gap on percussion was filled by Greg Welts, who was affectionately known as "Cuddles."[13] In early 1998, Slipknot produced a second demo featuring five tracks exclusively for record labels.[14] The band began to receive a lot of attention from record labels, and in February 1998, producer Ross Robinson offered to produce their debut album after attending rehearsals in Des Moines.[15] Soon after, DJ Sid Wilson was recruited as the band's ninth member after showing great interest and impressing band members.[16] In late June, Slipknot received a $500,000 seven-album deal from Roadrunner Records; the band signed the deal publicly on July 8, 1998.[17] Two days prior to this, Welts was fired from the band, something which Slipknot refuse to comment on.[17]
Slipknot and emergence (1998–2000)
| 16 second sample from Slipknot's "(sic)". Their debut album was much faster than their demo album Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. and, with nine members, their sound had much more depth.[18] |
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Chris Fehn was brought in to replace Welts on percussion before Slipknot traveled to Malibu, California to work on their debut album in September 1998.[19] Partway through the recording process of the album, Slipknot returned to Des Moines, Iowa for the Christmas period, during which guitarist Brainard decided to leave the band.[20] Speaking about his decision, Brainard explained: "some decisions were made that I wasn't particularly happy with."[21] Slipknot recruited Jim Root to complete their lineup and returned to Malibu to continue work on their debut album.[21] Work on the album concluded in early 1999, allowing the band to go on their first tour as part of the Ozzfest in 1999.[8] The tour proved to expand their audience greatly and their self-titled album was released on June 29, 1999.[22] Slipknot went on to release their first home video Welcome to Our Neighborhood and the two singles; "Wait and Bleed" and "Spit It Out".[8] The singles received some airplay, but Slipknot developed a large following very quickly mainly from touring and word of mouth.[8] The band toured several countries throughout 1999 and 2000 in support of the album. In early 2000, Slipknot was certified platinum, a first for an album released by Roadrunner Records.[23]
Iowa and hiatus (2001–2003)
Anticipation for Slipknot's sophomore effort was intense and in early 2001, the band began recording their second album at Sound City and Sound Image studios in Los Angeles.[8][24] It was about this time that conflicts began to arise between band members due to their extensive touring and recording schedules.[25] Despite this, recording on their second album came to a close in February 2001 and Slipknot embarked on their Iowa World Tour.[26] Iowa, the band's second album was released on August 28, 2001, peaking at number three on the Billboard album charts and at number one on the UK album chart.[27] The album produced three singles; "The Heretic Anthem", "Left Behind" and then "My Plague" which appeared on the soundtrack for the film Resident Evil.[28][29] In 2002, Slipknot made their first (and to-date only) appearance in a movie, performing the song "I Am Hated" in a scene in the remake of Rollerball.[30] The release of the album and the promotion in support of it proved great for the band's popularity, to the extent of them selling out shows in large arenas in several countries.[31] However, in mid-2002, Slipknot went on hiatus for the first time due to internal conflicts, seeing several band members focus on side projects.[32] Vocalist Taylor and guitarist Root revived their band Stone Sour, drummer Jordison created the Murderdolls, percussionist Crahan founded To My Surprise and DJ Wilson went solo as DJ Starscream.[32] At this time, the future of Slipknot was unclear and there was speculation over whether the band had split and the possibility of a third album.[33] Despite this, on November 22, 2002 Slipknot released their second DVD Disasterpieces.[34]
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