Has Slipknot already found Craig Jones' replacement?
Slipknot's fans were left heartbroken after it confirmed Jones' departure from the band. It shared the since-deleted statements on its Twitter and Instagram pages but removed both posts a few hours later.
While the public is yet to recover from the shocking news, the band dropped another update regarding its reported new member.
Craig Jones Replaced? Slipknot Seems To Have Introduced New Keyboardist
On Wednesday, Slipknot marked its first show in Austria without its keyboardist. The band announced the change in its lineup while percussionist Clown also missed the event to take care of his wife, who has been experiencing health issues.
The band performed several hit songs and tracks which have not been played for years, including "The Blister Exists," "Liberate," and "Purity." It also performed "Yen" from "The End, So Far" album for the first time.
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The band soon unveiled a sneak peek of the new member, with fans expecting him to replace Jones. It did not disclose further details about the mystery member, but he would be the first "anonymous" member to join the band after Michael Pfaff, who was welcomed on board as Tortilla Man, in 2021.
He initially worked as the band's touring member in 2019 before ultimately replacing Chris Pehn.
Fans Broken After Slipknot "Fired" Craig Jones
Slipknot did not disclose the reason why Jones left the band, but fans assumed that it fired the member despite his contributions to cementing the group's early works.
They took their dismay on Twitter and criticized the band for letting go of an integral part of Slipknot. Fans called out the band for having the fastest replacement in history as it posted the photo only hours after sharing Jones' departure announcement.
The former keyboardist joined in 1996 after the recording of the demo album, "Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat," Jones performed with Slipknot as 133, who held No. 5 in the nine-member band. He was initially tapped to replace guitarist Donnie Steele, but he eventually became the keyboardist of Slipknot.
At the time of his departure, he became the second-longest tenured Slipknot member after Shawn "Clown" Crahan.
Jones marked his first-ever album with Slipknot upon the release of 1999's self-titled album. He went on to record seven albums with the group, with "The End, So Far" as the most recent.
