Slipknot are starting a European tour in Austria tonight, but two members of the group will not be with them. The band just announced that they “have parted ways” with Craig Jones, the keyboardist who has been with them since 1996.
Instantly recognizable for his spiky, Pinhead-indebted mask. Jones had been a fixture in Slipknot for almost their entire career. Je joined the band in 1996 initially as a guitarist, shortly after Slipknot had recorded their demo album, Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat., with original vocalist Anders Colsefni.
Jones, who earned the nickname “The Quiet One” for his near-total silence and reluctance to speak with the media- played on every Slipknot release from their 1999 debut up through 2022’s The End, So Far. At shows, he was always stationed menacingly nodding along intensely while his bandmates caused physical chaos. Jones was the second-longest-running member of Slipknot, beating out guitarist Mick Thomson by just a few months. Thomson also joined in 1996, filling Jones’ position on guitar so he could move over to sampling and keyboards.
More than a decade ago, Slipknot singer Corey Taylor was asked why Jomes never speaks publicly. Corey said “There are several joke answers I can give you, one of which is that he’s an android. Another of which is that he’s secretly a serial killer. Which we all call him, like, you’re just a killer, dude. And he just goes [nods yes] and he doesn’t say a damn word.”
Yesterday the band revealed that drummer Shawn “Clown” Crahan, the only remaining founding member of Slipknot left, would not be accompanying them on the current tour. He wrote “I’m back home supporting my wife through some health issues, and I’ll be back on the road as soon as I can.”
Slipknot are currently on tour in support of last year’s new album The End, So Far.
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