The cruel twists of fate that often bring celebrity deaths in threes struck the metal community with Monday's passing of Slipknot bass player Paul Gray.
Gray, 38, was found dead of unknown causes in a hotel room in Urbandale, Iowa. According to the Des Moines Register, foul play is not suspected, and an autopsy will be performed today. Gray and his wife were reportedly expecting their first child. For more from the Register on the circumstances surrounding his death, as well as a video interview with Gray unmasked, click here.
Gray's passing follows those of Type O Negative singer Peter Steele, 48, on April 14 due to heart failure and legendary singer Ronnie James Dio, who lost his battle with stomach cancer on May 16 at age 67.
Slipknot, whose nine masked members are often known by numbers, rose to fame with their 1999 self-titled debut album and subsequent Ozzfest appearance. They released their fourth album, All Hope is Gone, in 2008, and co-headlined the first Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival with Disturbed on July 26, 2008, at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Gray's most recent appearance with Slipknot in San Antonio was March 1, 2009, at Freeman Coliseum.
Late Monday night, the home page of Slipknot's website was covered with a wordless picture of Gray. There was no immediate comment regarding his death on the site of Slipknot's label, Roadrunner Records, nor on Stone Sour's website. Stone Sour, which like Slipknot hails from Des Moines, Iowa, features Slipknot singer Corey Taylor and guitarist James Root.
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