Slipknot are well and truly a world-crushing force right now (what’s new?), but it turns out that initially guitarist Jim Root knocked back the invitation to join the band not once, but twice.
In an interview with 93.3 WMMR radio station, Root revealed that the first time he said no it was due to technical issues, and the second time was good ol’ loyalty.
“It was weird because I had given up playing the guitar when I was like 24 or something like that, maybe 25,” said Root of the period.
“I didn’t even have a band… and I just kind of was down on myself about it. I didn’t even own a guitar, I had to borrow one.”
Here are 9 business tips we learnt from Slipknot
“My chops were bad, I hadn’t even touched a guitar in years, so I was just kind of, like, ‘Nah, I’m just going to be a regular dildo, work and do all that.’”
Root would go on to join Stone Sour (Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor’s other band), as well as another funk-rock project, one which he told he was committed to, even if the Knot, who by that time had a record deal, called him again.
Read: Why Tool bassist Justin Chancellor said ‘No’ the first time he was asked to join Tool
“I told those dudes – I was living with the singer – I was, like, ‘If Slipknot ever called me, I won’t join, I don’t want to feel like it’s handed to me, I got to feel like I worked for it, like something I’ve achieved.’ And sure enough, they did. I never thought they would, so I said no.
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“My buddy Zack… said, ‘What, are you stupid? Very few times in life do you get a chance to take a great step forward. Even if you fall flat on your face, you can always come back.’ So I called Clown, and the rest is history.”
With Root in the ranks, the band would go on to sell a cool 30 million records (and counting), as well as perform in front of the biggest audiences imaginable.
What would have happened if Root had never joined? Who knows. At least his mask has changed the least out of all the members.
Listen to Spiders from the new Slipknot record We Are Not Your Kind below
