The news broke on a Tuesday. July 27, 2021. But for the family of Nathan Jonas Jordison, the world had already stopped spinning a day earlier.
Joey Jordison died on July 26, 2021. He was only 46 years old.
If you were a metalhead in the early 2000s, Joey wasn’t just a drummer. He was the engine. He was the #1 behind the kit for Slipknot, a whirlwind of blast beats and gravity-defying drum solos that literally saw him playing upside down. When his family released the statement saying he passed away "peacefully in his sleep," it felt wrong. It felt too quiet for a man who spent his life being the loudest person in every room.
The Tragedy of July 26, 2021
The suddenness was what got everyone. There was no public battle with a terminal illness in the months leading up to it. No "final tour" announcement. Just a sudden, gaping hole in the music world. His family kept the details close to the chest, which they had every right to do.
Honestly, the lack of a specific "cause of death" in the immediate aftermath led to the usual internet garbage. People specualted. They guessed. They brought up old demons. But the reality is that Joey had been fighting a much more private, physical war for nearly a decade.
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Transverse Myelitis: The Thief of Rhythm
You can't talk about when Joey Jordison died without talking about what happened to him in 2012. Imagine being the best at what you do and then, one day, your legs just... stop.
Joey was diagnosed with Acute Transverse Myelitis.
It’s a nasty neurological condition where the spinal cord gets inflamed. It wrecks the connection between your brain and your limbs. For a guy whose career was built on the fastest double-bass drumming in the industry, this was a death sentence for his craft.
He eventually told the story at the 2016 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards. He was emotional. He talked about how he had to be carried to the stage during his final shows with Slipknot. He couldn't walk. He had to be put in a gym and intense therapy just to learn how to use his legs again.
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"I lost my legs. I couldn’t play anymore. It was a form of multiple sclerosis, which I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy." — Joey Jordison, 2016.
He actually beat it, or at least he fought it to a standstill. He got back behind the kit with Sinsaenum and Vimic. He proved the doctors wrong. But that kind of trauma to the nervous system takes a toll that nobody sees from the outside.
Why the World Stopped for #1
Slipknot fans—the Maggots—are a different breed. To them, Joey wasn't just a hired gun. He was a co-founder. He wrote the riffs. He designed the logos.
When he was "fired" via email in 2013, it left a scar on the fanbase that never quite healed. Joey himself was blindsided. He spent years trying to make sense of it. By the time he passed in 2021, the "bad blood" between him and the band had softened into a sort of distant, tragic respect.
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After his death, the tributes were massive.
- Slipknot blacked out their social media and released an eight-minute tribute video.
- Metallica (who Joey famously saved at Download 2004 when Lars Ulrich fell ill) posted their respects.
- Murderdolls fans mourned the guitarist they knew unmasked and full of horror-punk energy.
The Legacy Beyond the Date
Joey Jordison's death date is a marker in time, but his influence is basically everywhere in modern metal. You can hear him in every kid on YouTube trying to learn the "Eyeless" breakbeat. You see him in every drummer who realizes that showmanship matters just as much as technicality.
He was a small guy from Des Moines who worked at a Sinclair gas station and ended up becoming a god of the kit. He played for Rob Zombie, Korn, and Marilyn Manson. He was a "Team Captain" for Roadrunner United. He was a workaholic because, for Joey, music wasn't a job—it was the only way he knew how to breathe.
What We Know Now
Even years later, the "how" matters less than the "who." Joey died at home, peacefully. No foul play. No dramatic scandal. Just a body that had given everything it had to the art of percussion.
If you're looking to honor him, don't just look at the date on a headstone. Go back to the 1999 self-titled record. Turn up "Surfacing." Listen to that opening snare hit. That's where he still lives.
Practical ways to keep the legacy alive:
- Support musicians' health: Organizations like Help Musicians or MusiCares provide support for artists dealing with neurological issues and physical disabilities.
- Explore his side projects: If you only know Slipknot, check out Sinsaenum's Echoes of the Tortured or the campy horror brilliance of Murderdolls.
- Listen to the "Unreleased" tracks: Since his passing, his estate and former bandmates have occasionally discussed unreleased material. Stay tuned to official channels for any posthumous releases that Joey was working on during his final years in Iowa.