WEDNESDAY 13 Says JOEY JORDISON's Death Came As 'A Shock'

On a recent episode of the "Talk Louder" podcast, hosted by veteran music journalist "Metal Dave" Glessner and lifelong hard rock/metal vocalist Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS), heavy horror punk icon Wednesday 13 spoke about the passing of his one-time MURDERDOLLS bandmate, original SLIPKNOT drummer Joey Jordison. Asked if Joey's July 2021 death came as a shock to him or if he was aware of any underlying health issues that would have caused Jordison to die at the age of only 46, Wednesday said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Honestly, I don't know anything of him being in bad health. I know he had his health problems that he had talked about online over the past couple of years, but as far as that being anything that was putting him toward death or anything, I don't think anybody had that type of expectations.

"No one had been in touch with him at all, so when we all heard, it was all a shock," Wednesday continued. "I think he had recently just split up with his girlfriend, so he may have been living by himself for the first time [in] a long time. No one mentioned COVID. I have no idea. It was literally just 'he died in his sleep,' and that's the news they'd given to everybody. I hope that it's that simple and it was that easy for him to go out and just peaceful. But I have no idea — I have no idea what was going on with him. And everybody… When he passed, I had some people reach out to me, 'What happened?' I'm, like, 'I don't know.' A lot of people thought that he and I spoke constantly. I don't know anybody that he was in touch with. He was really like a recluse. So I don't know if we'll ever find out exactly other than just what they've said. And that's probably all we're ever gonna hear."

More than a year ago, Joey's SINSAENUM bandmate Frédéric Leclercq blasted TMZ for sharing the audio of the 911 call placed by the former SLIPKNOT drummer's ex-girlfriend after she found him dead. On July 29, 2021, the tabloid site posted the two-and-a-half-minute phone call in which the ex-girlfriend — who continued taking care of Joey's bills and maintaining his house in Iowa even after their split — could be heard getting very emotional when she went to his home to check on him after he hadn't returned her messages. During the call, she indicated that Joey was "a really bad alcoholic" with "health issues," and she revealed that the motion sensors on the house hadn't detected any activity in days.

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.

Several years ago, Jordison overcame the neurological condition acute transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord which damages nerve fibers, which ultimately led to the drummer temporarily losing the use of his legs.

Wednesday 13 previously discussed Jordison's death in an April 2022 interview with the "On The Road To Rock" podcast. At the time, he said: "It's been a tough thing to swallow, knowing he's not here. But we got to do that second [MURDERDOLLS] record ['Women And Children Last'], which is my favorite — killer songs on that record.

"When that record ended, we kind of ended on ugly terms and stuff — I won't get into it — but we made up in 2018. We had two days off in Iowa and I went to his house. I brought the whole band over. We had a barbecue, we hung out, we made up and we had been talking, 'Hey, let's do MURDERDOLLS again. Let's do MURDERDOLLS again.' And literally a month before he died, he texted me, just out of the blue, watching 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. From his bed, he was, like, 'I just woke up and this was on.' He was just giggling watching The Hitchhiker. And he wrote me a message and said, 'Dude, I'm with you, brother. Horns up. Go out there and destroy it.' It was just a weird, out-of-the-blue thing. So I don't know what was going on with him then. And then I get the news [about his death]. I literally woke up and I had a bunch of messages going, 'Did you hear? Did you hear?' And I knew it.

"So, yeah, man, it's been a weird thing," Wednesday 13 added. "But getting to go out and play these songs and seeing people's reaction has been a healing thing. I needed that."

Three years ago, Wednesday 13 told the "Talk Toomey" podcast that he has fond memories of his time with the MURDERDOLLS. "That was such a special time for me — both times, both records," he said. "I mean, we did a lot of cool stuff. But that very first time we came out, and the things we did, it was when nu-metal was dying, and we were just kind of like… I won't say 'breath of fresh air,' 'cause it definitely wasn't fresh; it was smelly. But we were something that kind of came in, and it was really amazing in certain places. In the U.K., it made me feel like THE BEATLES for five seconds. It was something I'll never forget. I'll never forget having your van almost rocked over by a hundred fans in the middle of Piccadilly Circus in London. That was pretty nuts."

MURDERDOLLS had been inactive since completing the touring cycle in support of the aforementioned "Women And Children Last", which came out in August 2010 via Roadrunner Records.

In 2018, Joey told the "Talk Toomey" podcast that he wasn't opposed to the idea of collaborating with Wednesday 13 on new music. "Never say never, man — I mean, that's life," he said. "It's kind of funny, 'cause we have a bunch of songs that have been written and a bunch that are ready to go. Timing is everything, man — not necessarily anything about, 'Oh, we need to do this to impress people,' or, 'We need to put out this record or do something like that.' Timing in life is everything, so we'll see. Only time will tell."

Jordison told CrypticRock.com in 2017 that he "would love to do another record" with MURDERDOLLS. He explained: "I have this punk rock and pop side of me that I don't really get to get out in other areas in my life. When we did that band, it was just pretty much to express fun, have a great time, and kind of throw a monkeywrench into what was going on in rock and metal at the time, and it worked."

Jordison added that the tours he did with the MURDERDOLLS were "really awe-inspiring when you look in hindsight of what we accomplished in a short amount of time and the two records we did. I could not be more proud and happy of what we accomplished in that time," he said. "Everyone that was in that band, the couple of different personnels we employed, the MURDERDOLLS were killer."

Wednesday 13 reunited with onetime MURDERDOLLS members Eric Griffin and Acey Slade on stage for the first time in over a decade in August 2018 at Lucky Strike Live in Hollywood. The event, which celebrated the life of former MURDERDOLLS drummer Ben Graves, saw the trio performing some of the group's classic songs.

Graves, who also worked with PRETTY BOY FLOYD and DOPE, passed away in May 2018 after a year-long battle with cancer. He was only 45 years old.