Slipknot

Slipknot is an American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa, formed in 1995. For the greater part of their tenure the band consisted of nine members; however, the death of bassist Paul Gray on May 24, 2010 left the band with only eight remaining members—Sid Wilson, Joey Jordison, Chris Fehn, Jim Root, Craig Jones, Shawn "Clown" Crahan, Mick Thomson, and Corey Taylor—each of whom is known for wearing their own grotesque mask.
Slipknot formed in 1995 and underwent several line-up changes following the independent release of their first demo Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. in 1996. That album featured original lead vocalist, Anders Colsefini. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1999, featuring permanent new lead vocalist, Corey Taylor, and was followed by Iowa in 2001 and Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) in 2004. On August 25, 2008, the band returned to release their fourth studio album, All Hope Is Gone, which debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 charts. The band has released three DVDs, including Disasterpieces, which was certified quadruple-platinum in the United States. The band has sold over 14 million records worldwide.

Background information::

Origin::  Des Moines, Iowa, USA

 Genres::: Heavy metal, nu metal, alternative metal

Years active:: 1995–present

Website www.slipknot1.com 

Members::

Sid Wilson
Joey Jordison
Chris Fehn
Jim Root
Craig "133" Jones
Shawn "Clown" Crahan
Mick Thomson
Corey Taylor

Former members:

Paul Gray
Donnie Steele
Anders Colsefini
Greg "Cuddles" Welts
Josh "Gnar" Brainard

History::

Early formations of a band were beginning to coalesce as early as 1992, when the core band members, percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan, vocalist Anders Colsefini, and bassist Paul Gray enlisted the help of guitarists Donnie Steele and Quan Nong, and created Painface.^[1]

Wikinews has related news: Slipknot bassist Paul Gray found dead in hotel room at age 38

In September 1995, the band "The Pale Ones" was created comprising Crahan on drums, Gray on bass, Colsefini on vocals, and guitarist Steele.^[2] Joey Jordison joined the band shortly after, taking up the role of drummer and, subsequently, Crahan moved to percussion.^[3] The band continued to develop their vision of what the band would be, deciding to add a second guitarist, recruiting Josh Brainard and moving Colsefini to percussion along with lead vocals.^[4] The band played their first live performance under the name of Meld on December 4, 1995 at a club called Crowbar in Des Moines.^[5] Soon after, Jordison suggested renaming the band "Slipknot" after their song that eventually appeared on the band's demo Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.^[6] The band also began experimenting with their image, wearing grotesque make-up and eventually the anti-image concept developed towards the members wearing masks.^[7] Up until this point, the band had remained mainly obscured due to their desire to wait until their music was fully developed.^[6]

	Slipknot "Slipknot" (1996) 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 Colsefini had a much deeper vocal style than that of Taylor.[8]
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With plenty of material ready, the band began recording in a local studio, SR Audio with Sean McMahon.^[9] In February 1996, guitarist Donnie Steele left the band due to his Christian beliefs; though the other band members were prepared to allow him to stay, Steele decided to leave.^[10] His replacement, Craig Jones, arrived during the mixing stages of this new project.^[10] On April 4, 1996, Slipknot played their first public performance at Des Moines reggae club the Safari, where they played most of their early gigs.^[11] Their second gig at the Safari was alongside Stone Sour.^[11] The band began to realize again that there was need for a change, as they were adding samples to their recordings but could not produce these sounds live.^[12] Subsequently, Jones moved to full-time sampler and Mick Thomson was brought in to fill the space on guitar.^[12] After conflict over the mixing and mastering, the band self released their first album Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. on Halloween, October 31, 1996.^[13]
With the production of this album, Sean McMahon began distributing it between record and management companies, which resulted in airplay on local radio and, in turn, won a spot at Dotfest.^[14] Slipknot had returned to the studio having developed new material, which demanded more vocal melody.^[8] As a result, Corey Taylor was recruited from fellow Des Moines band Stone Sour; this moved Colsefini to backing vocals and percussion.^[8] While experimenting with their new vocalist, the band continued to do shows at the Safari club, during one of which Colsefini surprised his band and fans alike announcing on stage that he was leaving the band.^[8] The gap on percussion was filled by Greg Welts, who was affectionately known as "Cuddles".^[15] Towards the end of 1997, the band was assigned individual numbers respectively and began wearing uniform coveralls at their shows.^[16]
In early 1998, the band recorded their demo, which included "Spit It Out".^[17] The Slipknot Demo was sent to many record labels and, along with a growing popularity on the Internet and help from their then manager Sophia John, interest grew from record labels and eventually producer Ross Robinson was contacted.^[17] The band, which had a strong interest in working with Robinson, met with him and it was then decided they would work together.^[18] Soon after, DJ Sid Wilson was brought in to the band after showing great interest and impressing band members.^[19] With the acquisition of Ross Robinson, interest grew and the band began getting offers from record labels.^[20] On July 6, 1998 Welts was asked to leave the band becoming the first (and only) band member to be ultimately fired from the band.^[21] Chris Fehn replaced Welts on percussion and on July 8 they signed to Roadrunner Records