**UPDATE** Slipknot’s social media post announcing Jay Weinberg’s departure has been removed from all of the band’s official platforms. However, the announcement can still be found on the band’s web site.
Slipknot has parted ways with longtime drummer Jay Weinberg. On November 5, the band announced Weinberg’s departure via social media: “We would like to thank Jay Weinberg for his dedication and passion over the past ten years. No one can ever replace Joey Jordison’s original sound, style, or energy, but Jay honored Joey’s parts and contributed to the last three albums and we, the band, and the fans appreciate it. But as ever, Slipknot is intent on evolving. The band has decided to make a creative decision, and to part ways with Jay. We wish Jay all the best and are very excited for what the future holds.”
Weinberg played his final performance with Slipknot this past Friday at the Hell & Heaven festival in Toluca, Mexico. The now-33-year-old Jay discovered Slipknot when he was a pre-teen, through his father Max, of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and leader of the house band on Conan O’Brien’s talk show. He was hooked immediately and was a huge fan of Slipknot by the time he was invited to Los Angeles to try out as replacement for Joey Jordison in 2013.
For the first few months after the release of 2014’s “.5: The Gray Chapter”, the members of Slipknot refused to name the musicians who were playing drums and bass on their tour, even though their identities were revealed as Weinberg and bassist Alessandro “Vman” Venturella by a former drum tech for the band who posted a picture of a backstage call sheet on Instagram.
Slipknot announced its split with Jordison in December 2013 but did not disclose the reasons for his exit. The drummer subsequently issued a statement saying that he did not quit the group. Jordison passed away “peacefully in his sleep” in July 2021 of an unspecified cause. He was 46 years old.
Asked in a 2016 interview with Music Radar of his respects with Joey’s legacy, Weinberg said: “Having a massive respect for the band’s music, having a massive respect for Joey Jordison as a person and as a player, I understood my role in…understanding what Joey brought to the table, and having this band’s legacy continue in the way that the Maggots, the fans of the band, respect, and the nine of us feeling proud of the music we’re creating.”
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