After Slipknot announced with a now-deleted social media post that they parted ways with keyboardist Craig Jones, they hired a new member, playing his first show with the band on June 7 at the Nova Rock festival in Austria. Let’s look at what we know about him so far.
Slipknot just shared a photo of their mysterious new bandmate on Instagram but didn’t reveal his identity. Upon seeing the news, fans started speculating. Some even claimed that Jones had never truly departed, and it might be a marketing strategy to create buzz around Slipknot’s tour and their latest EP, ‘Adderall.’
Other fans proposed various names for the possible new keyboardist. One of them claimed it could be Zac Baird, who toured with Korn on some of their previous tours, writing on Twitter:
“The new Slipknot member is Zac Baird. Trust me.”
Another one guessed that it could be Nathan Church, who was a co-founder and keyboardist of the band Downthesun, explaining:
“The new member of Slipknot (taking over for Craig) is believed to be Nathan Church from the band DowntheSun. DowntheSun was the only act signed to Slipknot’s short-lived record label, Maggot Corps.”
One of the other comments said that the new mysterious musician might be Sleep Token’s lead singer, Vessel. To give a recent development, the band’s percussionist Michael Pfaff shared a backstage selfie where a clothing rack was visible in a now-deleted Instagram story.
It is seen in the photo that each band member has their own section labeled with their real names. While it is clear that ‘Corey’ is for frontman Corey Taylor, ‘Sid’ for DJ Sid Wilson, and ‘Mick’ for guitarist Mick Thomson, there is also ‘Za’ on one of the tags. The fans were quick to speculate that the new member is probably Zac Baird. As the band didn’t confirm it, we still don’t know for sure.
You can see some of the fan comments below.
The new #slipknot member is Zac Baird. Trust me.
— Aaron Dean (@WaffleDean) June 9, 2023
The new member of @slipknot (taking over for Craig) is believed to be Nathan Church from the band "DowntheSun". DowntheSun was the only act signed to Slipknot's short-lived record label, "Maggot Corps". #slipknot pic.twitter.com/JMwpfJ1Yod
— 𝙿𝚊𝚞𝚕 💪😏🤳 (@WrestlinMatterz) June 9, 2023
The guy from sleep token apparently
— Dylan (@dylancoxtv) June 8, 2023
