14 DAY TRIAL // They made a name for themselves for the grotesque masks they wore on stage, as part of their persona. Slipknot also wrote history for singing of things that would not normally come up in a daily conversation, to put it mildly. Shortly after news of the death of bassist Paul Gray was confirmed, the masks came off as the band members held a press conference, E! Online informs.
Paul Gray’s body was discovered over the weekend in his hotel room in Iowa. Police suspect no foul play but a cause of death has not yet been determined and an investigation is ongoing. Gray was only 38 years old and is survived by his wife and a daughter – and eight mates who can’t come to terms with the passing of the one they endearingly call their “brother.”
“‘There is really nothing more to say than that it’s very important that everybody, outside of us, understands that Paul Gray was the essence of the band Slipknot,’ said percussionist Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan at a press conference at Wells Fargo Arena in the band’s native stomping grounds of Des Moines, Iowa. Crahan helped found the band with Gray back in 1995. Gray’s widow, Brenna, and brother Tony joined the guys onstage. ‘Yesterday we lost our brother, and the world seems a little smaller because of it,’ frontman Corey Taylor said. ‘He was everything that was wonderful about this band and this group of people. The only way I can sum up Paul is love’,” E! writes of the press conference.
“Gray, 38, was found dead Monday in a hotel room in a Des Moines suburb. An autopsy performed today was deemed inconclusive pending, as per usual, the results of toxicology tests. ‘It’s very hard for me right now,’ added drummer Joey Jordison, another one of Slipknot’s original members. ‘I just want to say that I love you, Paul, very much. You’ll be sorely missed by the world over’,” the e-zine further says.
Since it was founded in 1995, Slipknot saw many changes to its original line-up. What never changed though was Paul Gray, one of the founding members, and the way the band kept in touch with the fans. Below are the remaining band members and Gray’s widow saying their good-byes.