James Donald Root (born October 2, 1971), known as Jim Root or by #4, is an American musician known for being the rhythm guitarist for the heavy metal band Slipknot, and the former lead guitarist for alternative metal band Stone Sour.
Life and career
James Root began performing with the thrash metal band Atomic Opera from Iowa in the early 90s, not to be confused with the hard rock band Atomic Opera from Houston, Texas. Soon after they split up, he went on to perform in bands such as Deadfront and Stone Sour, the latter of which he joined in 1995, and returned to along with vocalist Corey Taylor during its revival in 2002, and left in 2014. Prior to joining Slipknot, he worked as a screen printer, waiter, and busboy.
Root joined Slipknot in January 1999, replacing their original guitarist, Josh Brainard, who left the band during the recording of their self-titled album, reportedly after having fulfilled his recording duties. In fact, the only song Root recorded during the album's sessions was "Purity." The song was featured on the short-lived first pressing of Slipknot as well as the 10th Anniversary Edition, with the latter being its replacement. Despite this, the song has become a staple of most of the band's live performances. Slipknot vocalist Corey Taylor invited Root to join the band based on Taylor's past experiences working with him in Stone Sour.
Although filling in the spot of rhythm guitar in 1999, Root is considered to be one of the band's main songwriters and has written lead guitar parts for Slipknot's later albums, particularly All Hope is Gone. Root typically performed lead guitar in Stone Sour, although he sometimes played rhythm. He has spoken of both bands' guitar styles as being twin guitar: "In both bands, I fulfill both roles. In Slipknot, Mick [Thomson] has some solos, and in Stone Sour, Josh [Rand] has some solos." During the recording of Stone Sour's Audio Secrecy, he and Rand recorded their parts simultaneously.
Outside Slipknot and Stone Sour, Root has appeared on Slipknot turntablist Sid Wilson's DJ Starscream album The New Leader and John 5's The Devil Knows My Name for the song "Black Widow of La Porte" and also appeared on the Roadrunner United project, performing the solo and harmony guitars on "Tired 'N Lonely" from the project's album The All-Star Sessions. He also appeared on Jonathan Davis and the SFA´s cover of Lil Wayne´s "Got Money."
Root has been in a relationship with Lacuna Coil singer Cristina Scabbia since 2004. This is seen on both their social media sites like Instagram and Facebook. He currently owns a home in Atlantic Beach, Florida.
On May 17, 2014, Stone Sour released an official statement saying that Root was no longer a member of the band.
Root has rarely been seen singing backup vocals. He sang in "Get Inside," "Inhale," and "Last of the Real.".
Masks
When James first joined Slipknot, he adopted ex-guitarist Josh Brainard's mask. It was a black bondage mask that covered most of his head. He had purple hair at the time and used to pull parts of it up through a hole in the top of the mask. After a couple of shows and one photoshoot, he decided to change masks, as the bondage mask was too uncomfortable to allow him to concentrate on playing. He adopted a jester's mask, said to represent that side of his personality. His All Hope Is Gone mask is a variation of his Vol. 3 mask. It is still a jester's mask, but this one has a black diamond detailing around the eyes instead of red and a zipper in between the lips. His .5 mask has much bigger dark red diamondlike scars and an open space for his beard. His WANYK mask is similar, but the paint around the eyes has changed.
Equipment
In July 2007, Fender released the Jim Root Telecaster. Prior to his endorsement deal with Fender, Root had been seen using PRS, Jackson, Charvel, and Maverick electric guitars, and Guild and Martin acoustic guitars, as well as a wide range of effect pedals and amplifiers. In a 2009 performance for Eurockeennes, Jim used a Gibson Flying V.
In January 2010, a Jim Root Signature Fender Stratocaster was unveiled on the Fender website, similar to the one he has been seen using on stage as of March 2009. In 2012, Orange announced a new signature Tiny Terror amp based on their Rockerverb 100, Root's main amp, called the #4. Then, the Squier Telecaster signature model was released, similar to the first Fender Telecaster Jim Root signature. The white model comes with a black pickguard, and the black model comes with a white pickguard. Both Squier's have a maple neck and rosewood fretboard (22 frets). Jim's signature Squier's do not contain EMG 81 and EMG 60, instead containing Covered Passive Humbucking Pickups (Neck and Bridge).
The Fender Jim Root Jazzmaster was unveiled at NAMM 2014. It has the same specs as the Jim Root Stratocaster. It only comes in flat black with an ebony fretboard.
Gallery
Masks
Replica Masks
Tattoos
Trivia
- Root is currently the tallest member in the band, with a height of 6'6".
- His natural hair color is sandy blonde.
- Previous to Slipknot, Root was in the bands Dead Front and Atomic Opera.
- He is a smoker.
- When Jim joined the band, he had an "∀" on his jumpsuit, before officially receiving the #4.
- Jim only recorded one song on the Self-Titled album, which was Purity. So, the band decided to give him credit, on the cover, by photoshopping his purple hair onto Josh. Later, after the lawsuit from crimescene.com, the band was forced to remove Purity from the album, and re-release it. On that version they also "removed" the purple hair from Josh, since Jim wasn't featured on it.
- He suffers from obsessive–compulsive disorder.[1]
- Jim wrote and performed a song titled "Gone" for the movie See No Evil (2006)
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
- ↑ @Sandra Hajduk (July 4, 2019).
Jim Root from Slipknot: "I am too awkward to be a big rockstar". YouTube. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
