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Biography:
Slipknot is a
heavy-metal band consists of nine members, all of whom are male, who
becoming popular because of its extreme music and dramatic stage
performances. This group was firstly formed in the late 1995 in the
unlikely locale of Des Moines, IA; in which it has 3 percussionists,
2 guitarists, 1 bassist, a DJ, a sampler and a lead singer. Aside
from their real names, members of the band are also referred to by
numbers 0 through 8 and each of them also wears a mask, which they
mention to be part of their personality, like an extension of their
body. To explain that, all the group members believe that wearing
the masks shows more of what they are like inside and what the music
does to them inside.

Slipknot (sometimes
typeset as SlipKnoT to fit their logo) is a
Grammy winning American Nu metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. The
nine-piece formed in 1995 and are currently signed to Roadrunner
Records. Their albums and home videos have achieved platinum sales
status. The band's Grammy award nominations include Best Hard Rock
Performance and Best Metal Performance, which their song, "Before I
Forget", won after six successive years of nomination.
Slipknot members:
The band is known for its attention-grabbing image.
The members wear matching uniform jumpsuits and homemade masks. In
the past, their jumpsuits have featured large UPC barcodes printed
on the back and sleeves, which are identical to the barcode on their
first album, Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat. The initial reason for the band
wearing masks was the disbelief and ridicule the band received in
reaction to their musical ambition. Aside from their real names,
members of the band are referred to by numbers 0 through 8.
Today most members of the band have now been
photographed without their masks, largely as the result of their
work outside of Slipknot:
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| Sid
Wilson - Turntablist |
Chris
Fehn - one of the three percussionists |
Paul Gray
- Bassist |
Corey
Taylor - Vocalist |
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| Craig
Jones - Sampler/Keyboardist |
James
Root - Rhythm guitar |
Joey
Jordison - Drummer/Guitarist |
Mick
Thompson - Lead Guitarist |
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| Shawn
Crahan - Percussionist |
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- Vocalist Corey Taylor and guitarist
James Root appear unmasked when working
with their band Stone Sour and Corey Taylor was unmasked in an
appearance on the Killswitch Engage DVD. He has also appeared
unmasked in the Des Moines Register and on a Metal Hammer DVD in
which he receives a tattoo of Jean Valjean's prison number, 24601,
upon his back.
- Drummer Joey Jordison appears
unmasked with his side project the Murderdolls and when he plays
in other bands such as Ministry, Satyricon and Korn.
- Percussionist Shawn Crahan appears
unmasked with his band To My Surprise and Dirty Little Rabbits .
- DJ Sid Wilson works unmasked when
performing as DJ Starscream.
- Guitarist Mick Thomson appeared
unmasked in a Total Guitar magazine shoot. He is also unmasked in
the video for single "No Pity on the Ants" by Lupara. In the
video, he plays a serial killer.
- Bassist Paul Gray's face was revealed
in a police mugshot leaked through The Smoking Gun, He also played
unmasked on a recent tour with Reggie and the Full Effect (save
for a notable Halloween performance, where the entire band wore
Slipknot masks).
- Gray and Jordison have appeared unmasked during various
photo shoots and sessions with Roadrunner United.
In the video for "Before I Forget" the band performed
without their masks; however, the band members' faces are shown only
as brief glimpses, with the camera mostly focused on their hands and
instruments. In the video, the masks are visible hanging off hooks,
possibly representing their unwillingness to "forget." Each member
is also unmasked in individual interviews on their DVD Voliminal:
Inside the Nine.
The band's image has sparked controversy over the
years. Some of the controversy comes from the band Mushroomhead,
who, along with their fans, claim that Slipknot stole their image. In 2005, another source
of controversy was the band's lawsuit against Burger King, claiming
that company created the advertising based band Coq Roq to
capitalize on Slipknot's image. The band's
lawyer claimed that Burger King had contacted the band's label to
get Slipknot to take part in "advertising
campaign designed to motivate young people to vote." Burger King
responded to the suit with a countersuit, and in that suit pointed
out that many other bands, such as Mudvayne, Kiss, and GWAR have
used masks as part of their image, although after private
discussions the advertising campaign was dropped.
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