13 Years Ago – Slipknot Bassist Paul Gray Dies

Paul Grey, the original bassist and songwriter for Slipknot, was extremely kind and amiable, and he never exuded a

sense of rock star arrogance, according to almost everyone who knew him. Grey was very accommodating, brutally

honest, and very proud of the songs he wrote and performed with the band he loved and wanted to talk about. These

were the few times I spoke with him. Grey talked with the excitement of someone narrating the tale for the first time,

even when it came to explaining something as commonplace as how they obtained their name.

He informed me, “We had a show scheduled and a song called ‘Slipknot.'” “It was the first song we had written

completely, and it turned into ‘(sic),’ the first song we ever began writing even before [former drummer] Joey Jordan

joined the group. We all agreed that Slipknot was an easy name to say, and we needed a moniker in order to do the

concert. Before then, we had performed at another show under the name Meld, which we really didn’t like. Thus, we

chose Slipknot. And everybody basically passed out over that show. It was unlike anything they had ever seen. We

were unable to truly change the name after that.

Grey had the appearance of a bright ball of energy that bounced off everything in the room. He did, however, have a

dark side, and despite his best efforts, he was never able to give up his drug use. The bassist revealed to me that, in

2003, while the band was recording Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses, his heroin addiction got so out of control that the

band had to stage an intervention. This was just before the band released All Hope is Gone, the last record he toured

for before his untimely death on May 24, 2010.

He admitted, “I would shoot up in the toilet half the time.” “As I was trying to play, I would occasionally fall off my

chair and nod off in the middle of tracking a song.” When you use drugs to a certain extent, withdrawal symptoms

are really difficult to deal with. It’s not that you’re opposed to giving up. It’s simply not possible. I ultimately checked

myself into treatment halfway through the record.”

After receiving a warning from Brenna, his future wife and girlfriend, Grey was able to quit heroin at last. “‘I can’t sit

around and watch you kill yourself,’ she said,” he begins. “It didn’t help that I was living in Los Angeles at the time

because it was so simple to obtain drugs.”

I returned to Iowa with her after that, saw my doctor, and became well. And I’ve been clean for a good two years at

this point.”

On August 20, 2008, Slipknot released All Hope Is Gone, and it seemed like other band members were way more

spun-out than Grey. During the band’s two-year album tour, turmoil reigned, but Grey seemed to delight in the

chaos, showing off his demonic pig suit, hanging out with guitarist Jim Root, vocalist Corey Taylor, and percussionist

Shawn Crahan after gigs and swapping jokes. Grey appeared to have conquered his inner demons and was on the

road to recovery with the support of his spouse and fellow musicians.

That’s why the news that Gray’s body was discovered at the TownPlace Suites Hotel in Johnston, Iowa at around

10:50 AM local time on May 24, 2010, as reported by the Des Moines Register, came as such a shock. 38 was his age.

A hotel staff member reported that medications were strewn all over the room and that a hypodermic needle was

near to Gray’s bed. Subsequent forensic examinations indicated that Grey had “significant heart disease,” had a

significant amount of the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in his system, and had died from an accidental overdose of

morphine and the painkiller Fentanyl.

Heartbroken by Gray’s passing, Tony, Gray’s brother, and the rest of Slipknot staged a press conference by video the

following day. Vocalist Corey Taylor remarked, “Love is the only way I can sum up Paul Grey,” during the emotional

ceremony. Whether or not he knew you, he did everything for everyone in his immediate vicinity.I, along with

everyone seated at this table and those who knew him, will sincerely miss him. Among us, he was the best.