Reflecting on the life of his fellow metal brother, Korn drummer Ray Luzier shares some kind words about Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison. On July 26th, 2021, at the age of 46, Jordison passed away. As one of the founding members of Slipknot, Jordison is fondly remembered by the metal community for his incredible drumming skills and brilliant creativity. Heartbroken with the passing of his friend, band vocalist Corey Taylor spoke to the pain he felt in losing Jordison.
In a conversation with Gigwise, Luzier shared that Jordison’s death was difficult to process. “He had some demons, like a lot of people do, and I lost quite a few band friends, and people who I was quite close to in the music industry across the past two/three years. It’s never easy,” Luzier said.
Continuing, he also shared, “It’s hard, you feel even worse when it’s not a natural death. I know Joey had a lot of health problems too, so it wasn’t just abuse, but no one wants anyone to go off that early if they could’ve been around longer. It’s much harder when something like that happens. Especially such a good dude like Joey: he had such good music in him.
“I say the word lifer a lot, because that’s what we are, till death: it’s in our blood, we eat, sleep, breathe music every day and he was definitely that. That guy would wake up and pick up a guitar because he had an idea. I love those kinds of people; I’m very attracted to that energy and mentality.”
Korn came into their stardom a tad before Slipknot, but the two share a history together. As prominent metal acts of the ‘90s and 2000s – each still selling out stadiums today – the bond between them is remarkably tight. Luzier’s words express a great sympathy and heartfelt awareness of how remarkable of a person Jordison was. We miss you every day Joey, and we know that you are kickin’ it on metal heaven’s drum set now in peace.
As of February 4th, Korn released their 14th studio album, Requiem.
***
Words by: Michael Pementel
