Sid Wilson pays emotional tribute to Joey Jordison, Slipknot’s defining drummer

Sid Wilson turned a tribute into a legacy check. In an April 14, 2026 interview with Get On The Bus, the Slipknot turntablist said Joey Jordison was “the best that ever did it, hands down,” a blunt verdict that landed like a reminder of how deeply Jordison’s playing still defines the band’s story.

Wilson also said he stayed friends with Jordison after the drummer left Slipknot in 2013, and he did not soften the impact of losing him. Jordison died on July 26, 2021, at age 46, and Wilson said there was “nothing easy about it” and that “life is tough.” For a drummer as visible and influential as Jordison, that grief is tied to something bigger than nostalgia: the player who carried the pulse of Slipknot’s first era never really stopped shaping the way the band is discussed.

Slipknot formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1995 with Shawn Crahan, Joey Jordison and Paul Gray at the center of the project. Jordison was the original drummer, known inside the band as Number 1, and he remained with Slipknot from its formation through his departure in 2013. He appeared on the band’s first four studio albums, the records that established the attack, speed and precision that made Slipknot a force far beyond Iowa.

The band made that connection plain after Jordison’s death. In its July 30, 2021 statement, Slipknot said his “art, talent, and spirit” could not be contained and that “without him there would be no us.” The group also blacked out its social media accounts in tribute, a stark move that reflected how central Jordison was to the band’s identity, not just its early lineup.

That reputation has continued to travel well outside metal circles. In a 2023 interview clip, Police drummer Stewart Copeland praised Jordison, said he had “chops,” and placed him among the best drummers he had seen live. That kind of respect explains why Jordison still comes up in conversations about speed, stamina, stage presence and control. He was not only a studio player with high-end technique. He was a live-wire figure whose role helped make Slipknot feel like a one-of-a-kind event every time the band hit the stage.

Jordison’s post-Slipknot work added even more range to that resume. He went on to play in Scar the Martyr, Murderdolls, Sinsaenum and Vimic, and he also had a temporary stint with Ministry in 2018. But the reaction to Wilson’s comments shows where the center of gravity still sits. In heavy drumming, some players leave a footprint. Joey Jordison left a standard.