KIRK HAMMETT: JOEY JORDISON 'Had Tears In Both Of His Eyes' While Performing With METALLICA

SLIPKNOT's Joey Jordison and SLAYER's Dave Lombardo filled in for METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich when he was unable to appear at the Download festival in England in June 2004. Ulrich later blamed his non-appearance on exhaustion, caused by an unrelenting tour schedule and the break-up of his seven-year marriage to Skylar Satenstein.

METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett reflected on Jordison's performance with METALLICA as part of a newly published oral history of the Download festival. Explaining that he spent the last hours before METALLICA's Download set frantically speaking to potential replacements for Ulrich, he told The Guardian: "I couldn't do anything for the next three hours except talk to drummers. I remember seeing Dimebag [late PANTERA and DAMAGEPLAN guitarist Darrell Abbott] wave at me from a distance backstage. I looked at him and mouthed, 'We are completely fucked.' He came over laughing and just said, 'You guys have got this.' And that was the last time I saw Dime. I still regret not taking the time to have a full conversation with him," referencing the fact that Dimebag was murdered just six months later.

As for Joey's performance with METALLICA, Kirk said: "Joey could play all sorts of things. I remember saying to him, 'Bro, you're gonna have to play a bunch of these tunes tonight.' He was beside himself, he was so happy. At the end of the set, I turned to Joey onstage, and I asked him if he could play 'Enter Sandman'. And I saw through his [SLIPKNOT] mask [which he was wearing while performing with METALLICA] that he had tears in both of his eyes. He was crying because it meant so much for him to be playing 'Sandman' with us at Download. I'll never forget that."

Jordison played eight tracks from the 11-song set, with Lombardo and Ulrich's drum tech Flemming Larsen helping with the remaining cuts.

Jordison reflected on the moment years later. "As cool as it was playing that show, what was cooler was playing in METALLICA's practice room," he said. "It was just me and those three guys, just warming up. What a dream come true, man. I'll have dreams about it every once in a while. It was one of the best gigs of my life."

Less than two years ago, SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor spoke about Jordison's performance with METALLICA during a conversation with Knotfest.com's Ryan J. Downey. He said: "We were back there with [Joey], watching it… It was so surreal to watch Joey playing with [METALLICA], because we all grew up listening to them. And Joey was shitting bricks. I mean, he [had] his mask on, but every time he'd come back and he would pull his mask off, he would just be, like, 'How am I doing? How am I doing?' I'm, like, 'you're fucking killing it.' Me, Paul [Gray, then-SLIPKNOT bassist], Clown [SLIPKNOT percussionist], we were all standing there fucking cheering him on. And they ended up throwing different songs at him that they hadn't rehearsed. They threw all the MISFITS shit at him, and he fucking knew it. They would have probably kept him up there all night if they could have. He played the majority of the set.

"That, to me, was such a fucking amazing moment for him that it was cool to be back there sharing that with him," Corey continued. "It was a special little fucking — almost like that's the moment you know you've made it. You're seeing this reflection of respect from arguably your biggest influence, your biggest peer. Them signing off on you like that had to have been fucking massive for him. And I remember him telling me it was such a blur that he didn't really remember anything until he watched the video back. And he's right — that shit can go by [very quickly] because you're so fucking into it…

"I don't know if they expected it, but he fucking went in there and he showed not only the band but all of their fans — not only the level of respect that we have for them and the music but that we can hold our own," Taylor added. "And I think that was a big moment. It was a big part of that."

SLIPKNOT announced its split with Jordison in December 2013 but did not disclose the reasons for his exit. The drummer subsequently issued a statement saying that he did not quit the group.

Jordison's family confirmed that he passed away "peacefully in his sleep" in July 2021 of an unspecified cause. He was 46 years old.

Kirk Hammett photo credit: Ross Halfin