Joey
Jordison, the founding drummer of American heavy metal band Slipknot, died on
Monday at the age of 46. A family representative confirmed the news of his
death but did not specify any cause.

Joey’s
death has left us with empty hearts and feelings of indescribable sorrow. To
those that knew Joey, understood his quick wit, his gentle personality, giant
heart, and his love for all things family and music. The family of Joey have
asked that friends, fans, and media understandably respect our need for privacy
and peace at this incredibly difficult time,” the family statement said,
Rolling Stone reported.

Jordison was
also the co-writer of many of Slipknot’s biggest hits.

Jordison
was playing with a group of metal enthusiasts who called themselves the Pale Ones.
It was Jordison who came up with the name Slipknot in 1995. Within a few years,
the band’s lineup boasted of nine members who could be recoganised by their nightmarish
masks. The band’s music was a fusion of metal and rap aggression that placed
them at the vanguard of the nu-metal explosion.

Due to
steady touring and explosive live shows on Ozzfest, their debut went
double-platinum in 1999. Jordison’s neck-rattling rhythms and death-metal blast beats were a crucial ingredient to the band’s sudden success.

Jordison
left the band in 2013 due to what he described at the time as personal reasons.
It was later revealed by him that he had left the band due to a neurological
disease.

“I got
really, really sick with a horrible disease called transverse myelitis, I lost
my legs. I could not play anymore. It was a form of multiple sclerosis, which I
would not wish on my worst enemy. I got myself back up, and I got myself in the
gym and I got myself back in therapy, to beat this shit,” he said at the Metal
Hammer Golden Gods Awards in 2016.