List of Slipknot band members

Slipknot is an American alternative metal band, founded in 1995 by percussionist Shawn Crahan, bassist Paul Gray and vocalist Anders Colsefni. The band currently consists of Crahan alongside guitarist Mick Thomson (since 1996), vocalist Corey Taylor (since 1997), DJ/keyboardist Sid Wilson (since 1998), guitarist Jim Root (since 1999), bassist/keyboardist Alessandro Venturella (since 2014), percussionist/keyboardist Michael Pfaff (since 2019), an unknown musician who plays samples, keyboards, and percussion (since 2023) and drummer Eloy Casagrande (since 2024).

Three line-ups of Slipknot 2005, 2012 and 2022.

History

Members of Slipknot had played together in various metal bands since 1991. In January 1995, Colsefni, Crahan and Gray decided to form a new band.^[1] They were soon joined by guitarist Donnie Steele and drummer Joey Jordison, with Jordison also inviting rhythm guitarist Josh Brainard.^[2][3] In late 1995, the group changed their name to Slipknot.^[4] In February 1996, after recording their debut album Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat., Steele left the band over disagreement over lyrical content.^[1] Craig Jones joined as Steele's replacement, although he soon moved to samples, media and keyboards.^[5] Mick Thomson joined as Jones' replacement on guitar.^[6]

In early 1997 Corey Taylor joined as lead vocalist, and Colsefni moved to backing vocals,^[7] although he would depart by September 1997.^[8] Greg Welts joined as Colsefni's replacement.^[9] In Early 1998, DJ Sid Wilson also joined the band, bringing the number of members to nine.^[10] Welts was fired in July 1998, shortly before the band signed a record deal.^[11] Brandon Darner was Welts' touring replacement although he departed soon after and was replaced by Chris Fehn.^[12][13] Brainard left during Christmas 1998,^[14][15] his replacement was Jim Root who joined the following year.^[15] This line-up would stay together for over 10 years.

In May 2010, Paul Gray died.^[16] In March 2011, former guitarist Donnie Steele rejoined as his touring replacement.^[17][18] In December 2013, Jordison was fired from the band.^[19][20][21] In October 2014, the band began touring with a new drummer and bassist, replacing Jordison and Steele respectively.^[22] These musicians were later revealed to be Jay Weinberg and Alessandro Venturella respectively.^[23][24]

In March 2019, Chris Fehn filed a lawsuit against the band due to withheld payments.^[25] He was fired from the band later that month.^[26] He was replaced by a musician that was later revealed to be Michael Pfaff.^[27][28][29] Craig Jones parted ways with the band in June 2023,^[30] he was replaced the same day by a musician whose identity has not been revealed, although they are rumoured to be either Zac Baird (ex-Korn), Nathan Church (ex-Downthesun) or Jeff Karnowski (ex-Dirty Little Rabbits).^[31][32] The band also parted ways with Weinberg that November.^[33] Eloy Casagrande joined as drummer the following year, leaving Sepultura to do so.^[34][35][36]

Members

Current members

Image	No./Int.	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	#6	Shawn "Clown" Crahan	1995–present	percussion vocals drums samplers (1995–1996)	all releases
	#7	Mick Thomson	1996–present	lead guitar	all releases except Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. (1996)
	#8	Corey Taylor	1997–present	vocals
	#0	Sid Wilson	1998–present	turntables keyboards (2008–present)
	#4	Jim Root	1999–present	rhythm guitar bass (2010–2014)
	V	Alessandro "Vman" Venturella	touring member: 2014–2015, official member: 2015–present	bass keyboards (2018–present)[37]	all releases since .5: The Gray Chapter (2014), except Live at MSG (2023)
		Michael "Tortilla Man" Pfaff	touring member: 2019–2022, official member: 2022–present	percussion backing vocals keyboards (2022–present)[38]	all releases since The End, So Far (2022), except Live at MSG (2023)
		Eloy Casagrande	2024–present	drums

Former members

Image	No./Int.	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
	#2	Paul Gray	1995–2010 (until his death)	bass backing vocals	all releases from Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. (1996) to All Hope Is Gone (2008) Live at MSG (2023)
		Anders Colsefni	1995–1997	vocals percussion samples (1995–1996)	Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. (1996)
		Donnie Steele	official member: 1995–1996, touring member: 2011–2014	lead guitar (1995–1996) bass (2011–2014)	Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. (1996) .5: The Gray Chapter (2014)
	#1	Joey Jordison	1995–2013 (died 2021)	drums	all releases from Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. (1996) to All Hope Is Gone (2008) Live at MSG (2023)
	#4	Josh "Gnar" Brainard	1995–1999	rhythm guitar backing vocals keyboards percussion (1995–1996)	Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. (1996) Slipknot (1999)
	#5	Craig "133" Jones	1996–2023	lead guitar (1996) samples media keyboards (2004–2023)	all releases from Slipknot (1999) to Live at MSG (2023)
	#3	Greg "Cuddles" Welts	1997–1998	percussion backing vocals	Slipknot (1999)
		Chris Fehn	1998–2019		all releases from Slipknot (1999) to .5: The Gray Chapter (2014) Live at MSG (2023)
	J	Jay Weinberg	touring member: 2014–2015, official member: 2015–2023	drums	all releases from .5: The Gray Chapter (2014) to Adderall (2023)

Touring musicians

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Notes
	Brandon Darner	1998	percussion backing vocals
	Mark Morton	2005	bass	fill in for Paul Gray at The Subliminal Verses North American leg.[39]
	Phil Sgrosso	2012	rhythm guitar	fill in for Jim Root at Mayhem Festival.[40]
	Nick Hipa
	Unknown musician	2023–present	sampler media keyboards percussion	fill in for Craig Jones.

Timeline

Line-ups

Period	Members	Releases
September 1995 (The Pale Ones)	Anders Colsefni – lead vocals Donnie Steele – guitars Paul Gray – bass, backing vocals Shawn Crahan – drums	none – rehearsals only
September – October 1995 (The Pale Ones)	Anders Colsefni – lead vocals, percussion Donnie Steele – guitars Paul Gray – bass, backing vocals Joey Jordison – drums Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals
October 1995 – February 1996 (The Pale Ones, Meld for November debut show, Slipknot from c. December 1995)	Anders Colsefni – lead vocals, percussion, samples Donnie Steele – lead guitar Josh Brainard – rhythm guitar, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals Paul Gray – bass, backing vocals Joey Jordison – drums Shawn Crahan – percussion, samples, backing vocals	Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. (1996)
February – July 1996 (Slipknot, Pygsystem for two shows in June)	Anders Colsefni – lead vocals, percussion, samples Craig Jones – lead guitar Josh Brainard – rhythm guitar, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals Paul Gray – bass, backing vocals Joey Jordison – drums Shawn Crahan – percussion, samples, backing vocals	none – live performances only
July 1996 – early 1997	Anders Colsefni – lead vocals, percussion Mick Thomson – lead guitar Josh Brainard – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Craig Jones – samples, media, keyboards Paul Gray – bass, backing vocals Joey Jordison – drums Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals
Early – September 1997	Corey Taylor – lead vocals Mick Thomson – lead guitar Josh Brainard – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Craig Jones – samples, media, keyboards Paul Gray – bass, backing vocals Joey Jordison – drums Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals Anders Colsefni – percussion, backing vocals
September 1997 – early 1998	Corey Taylor – lead vocals Mick Thomson – lead guitar Josh Brainard – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Craig Jones – samples, media, keyboards Paul Gray – bass, backing vocals Joey Jordison – drums Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals Greg Welts – percussion, backing vocals
Early – July 1998	Corey Taylor – lead vocals Mick Thomson – lead guitar Josh Brainard – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Craig Jones – samples, media, keyboards Paul Gray – bass, backing vocals Sid Wilson – turntables Joey Jordison – drums Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals Greg Welts – percussion, backing vocals	"Spit It Out" on Slipknot (1999) and Antennas to Hell (2012)
July – September 1998	Corey Taylor – lead vocals Mick Thomson – lead guitar Josh Brainard – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Craig Jones – samples, media, keyboards Paul Gray – bass, backing vocals Sid Wilson – turntables Joey Jordison – drums Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals Brandon Darner – percussion, backing vocals (touring only)	Slipknot (1999) all but two tracks
September – December 1998	Corey Taylor – lead vocals Mick Thomson – lead guitar Josh Brainard – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Craig Jones – samples, media, keyboards Paul Gray – bass, backing vocals Sid Wilson – turntables Joey Jordison – drums Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals Chris Fehn – percussion, backing vocals	Slipknot (1999) one track Antennas to Hell (2012) four tracks
January 1999 – May 2010	Corey Taylor – lead vocals Mick Thomson – guitar Jim Root – guitar Craig Jones – samples, media, keyboards Paul Gray – bass, backing vocals Sid Wilson – turntables, keyboards Joey Jordison – drums Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals Chris Fehn – percussion, backing vocals	"Purity" and "Me Inside" on Slipknot (1999) Iowa (2001) Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) (2004) 9.0: Live (2005) All Hope Is Gone (2008) Antennas to Hell (2012) remaining thirteen tracks Live at MSG (2023)
May 2010 – March 2011	Corey Taylor – lead vocals Mick Thomson – guitar Jim Root – guitar Craig Jones – samples, media, keyboards Sid Wilson – turntables, keyboards Joey Jordison – drums Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals Chris Fehn – percussion, backing vocals	none
March 2011 – December 2013	Corey Taylor – lead vocals Mick Thomson – guitar Jim Root – guitar, bass Craig Jones – samples, media, keyboards Donnie Steele – bass (touring) Sid Wilson – turntables, keyboards Joey Jordison – drums Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals Chris Fehn – percussion, backing vocals	.5: The Gray Chapter (2014) unspecified tracks
December 2013 – May 2014	Corey Taylor – lead vocals Mick Thomson – guitar Jim Root – guitar, bass Craig Jones – samples, media, keyboards Donnie Steele – bass (touring) Sid Wilson – turntables, keyboards Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals Chris Fehn – percussion, backing vocals	none
March 2014 – March 2019	Corey Taylor – lead vocals Mick Thomson – guitar Jim Root – guitar Craig Jones – samples, media, keyboards Alessandro Venturella – bass, keyboards (touring only till 2015) Sid Wilson – turntables, keyboards Jay Weinberg – drums (touring only till 2015) Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals Chris Fehn – percussion, backing vocals	.5: The Gray Chapter (2014) unspecified tracks Day of the Gusano: Live in Mexico (2017) We Are Not Your Kind (2019) one track
June 2019 – June 2023	Corey Taylor – lead vocals Mick Thomson – guitar Jim Root – guitar Craig Jones – samples, media, keyboards Alessandro Venturella – bass, keyboards Sid Wilson – turntables, keyboards Jay Weinberg – drums Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals Michael Pfaff – percussion, keyboards, backing vocals (touring only till 2022)	We Are Not Your Kind (2019) The End, So Far (2022) Adderall (2023)
June – November 2023	Corey Taylor – lead vocals Mick Thomson – guitar Jim Root – guitar Unknown musician – samples, media, keyboards (touring) Alessandro Venturella – bass, keyboards Sid Wilson – turntables, keyboards Jay Weinberg – drums Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals Michael Pfaff – percussion, keyboards, backing vocals	none – live performances only
November 2023 – April 2024	Corey Taylor – lead vocals Mick Thomson – guitar Jim Root – guitar Unknown musician – samples, media, keyboards (touring) Alessandro Venturella – bass, keyboards Sid Wilson – turntables, keyboards Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals Michael Pfaff – percussion, keyboards, backing vocals	none
April 2024 – present	Corey Taylor – lead vocals Mick Thomson – guitar Jim Root – guitar Unknown musician – samples, media, keyboards, percussion (touring) Alessandro Venturella – bass, keyboards Sid Wilson – turntables, keyboards Eloy Casagrande – drums Shawn Crahan – percussion, backing vocals Michael Pfaff – percussion, keyboards, backing vocals	none to date