Music News

Slipknot’s Paul Gray found dead

By Patrick Luce May 25, 2010, 1:10 GMT

Slipknot’s Paul Gray found dead in a hotel room at the age of 38. @© Daniel Locke / PR Photos

Heavy metal band Slipknot’s bassist Paul Gray was found dead today (Monday, May 24) in a room at the Town Plaza Hotel in Urbandale (a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa).

Police have stated an autopsy has been planned for Tuesday, and toxicology test will be part of the process.

The death is not being treated as suspicious. Gray, who was 38, was discovered by a hotel employee and police have stated there was no evidence of foul play.

Gray was born in Los Angeles and raised in Des Mointes. He was a founding member of Slipknot – best known for the mask the members wear. The group formed in 1995 and enjoyed a platinum-selling self-titled debut album in 1999.

They won a Grammy in 2006 for Best Metal Performance for the song “Before I Forget.” They also had a massive hit with their 2008 album ‘All Hope is Gone.’

Gray had some legal trouble in the past following a vehicular accident in Des Moines in Junes of 2003. The accident led to Gray being arrested on drug charges. He later entered a guilty plea to operating while under the influence of drugs for which he served a sentence of one year of informal probation.

The bass player was reportedly at work on a studio album with a new group dubbed Hail! – which was made up of members of Judas Priest and Sepultura. Gray is survived by his wife Brenna.