Paul Dedrick Gray (April 8, 1972 – May 24, 2010) was the bass player of the band up until May 24th, 2010, and was part of the original Slipknot line-up. Unlike the rest of the band (except Jim), he was in fact born in Los Angeles, but he resided in Des Moines, Iowa, with the rest of the band.
Personal life and career
Gray was born in Los Angeles, California. Later, his family relocated to Des Moines, Iowa. In his youth, Gray performed in bands such as Anal Blast, Vexx, Body Pit, and, Inveigh Catharsis. Outside Slipknot, Gray has filled in as bassist for Unida during their 2003 tour, appeared on Drop Dead, Gorgeous' Worse Than a Fairy Tale, done a brief tour with Reggie and the Full Effect, and appeared on the Roadrunner United project, performing bass on "The Enemy" and "Baptized in the Redemption" from the project's album The All-Star Sessions.
In June 2003, Gray crashed his car into another vehicle. After police were called to the scene and searched his car, Gray was arrested for possession of cocaine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and failure to obey a traffic signal. Turmoil was caused within Slipknot's fanbase when Gray's mugshot from the incident surfaced, as at this time, with the exception of Corey Taylor and guitarist James Root, unobstructed photographs of most members of the band's faces were exceptionally rare. He was one of the three members of Slipknot's founding line-up that remained in the band and the only one who maintained his original role in the band due to Clown's switch from main drums to custom percussion during the early days. He is one of the two members not born in Iowa (the other is Jim Root, who was born in Las Vegas). Paul has been married for two years to GodsGirls, Brenna. Paul has a tattoo of her name on his knuckles. Paul and Brenna were expecting their first child in 2010. Paul made the announcement on his Myspace account. On August 17, 2010, Brenna gave birth to their daughter October Dedrick Gray.
Death
On May 24, 2010, The Des Moines Register reported that Gray had been found dead in a room in the Town Plaza Hotel in Urbandale, Iowa. He is survived by his wife, Brenna, and daughter, October. He and his wife were expecting their first child, October, at the time of his death. His autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday, May 25th. The cause of death is a morphine overdose.
Masks
Gray initially used wire weaved in his piercings for his look in Slipknot. Later, he switched to a Halloween-styled pig mask, which he used for the self-titled era, and it represented his indulgent personality. He was then criticized by members of Mushroomhead, another band that uses masks, costumes, and pseudonyms to differentiate themselves from other bands, who said Paul stole the idea from their bassist, who also wears a pig mask. During the touring cycle for Iowa, he used a black mask with dark eyes and nose holes with a small slit or grate over his mouth. It bore a striking resemblance to the Man in the Iron Mask. During the Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) touring cycle, his mask took on a more facial shape and contained small angled metal bars inside a larger mouth area. It was decorated with a bullet hole and small cracks. Gray currently has two masks that he used for the All Hope Is Gone era. The first one is a gray leather mask, almost identical to the one used during the Vol. 3 era, except the bars are now vertically lined, and it is indented with small cracks. His second mask is almost identical to his previous one, except that white paint has been smudged down the mask in a line from the eyeholes, and it is adorned with more visible stitches on the face.
Gallery
Masks
Replica Masks
Tattoos
Trivia
- At a show, before the band signed with Roadrunner, Paul forgot his mask, so the band forced him to wear pantyhose that they drew a pig face on, and put a thread spool over his nose.[1]
- Paul's original pig mask was found by Anders Colsefni, because Paul was too lazy to find a mask for himself. Anders also added the padlock to the nose.[2]
- At an earlier show (before the band wore masks), Paul wrapped bailing wire around his head and weaved through his piercings.
External Links
| Slipknot | |
|---|---|
| Current Members: | #0 Sid Wilson • #4 Jim Root • #6 Shawn "Clown" Crahan • #7 Mick Thomson • #8 Corey Taylor • (V) Alex Venturella • Michael Pfaff • Unidentified sampler |
| Former Members: | Anders Colsefni • #4 Josh "Gnar" Brainard • #2 Paul Gray • #1 Joey Jordison • Donnie Steele • Kun Nong • #3 Greg "Cuddles" Welts • #3 Chris Fehn • #5 Craig "133" Jones • (J) Jay Weinberg Live Only: (ᗺ) Brandon Darner |
References
- ↑ @98KUPD (October 7, 2022).
Toy Shopping With Corey Taylor. YouTube. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
- ↑ Original SLIPKNOT Singer ANDERS COLSEFNI Weighs In On MUSHROOMHEAD 'Feud'. Blabbermouth. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
