Slipknot Ex-Members

Greg Welts

Greg "Cuddles" Welts is the original custom percussionist along with Shawn. He didn't stay that long and left to work on his tattoo parlor at South Dakota called "The Ultimate Prick".

Brandon Darner

Brandon Darner is the replacement for custom percussionist, Greg Welts. He didn't stay long and was later on replaced by Chris.

Him and Shawn Crahan come together in 2004 to release an album under the band "To My Surprise"

Josh Brainard

Josh Brainard commonly known as Gnar to his band mates, was one of the original Slipknot guitarists, alongside Donnie Steele. Josh was asked to join the band after playing with Anders, Joey and Paul for several years. Originally Josh was the topping to the music produced, adding back up vocals, a touch of melody and his work on the guitar was placed over what was already there, being mainly noise and wah pedal stuff.

Later on, however, Mick took on the 'noise' role and this caused Josh to take on a more rhythmic guitar role. Josh was present for both MFKR and the self titled album, being in both the recordings. Most people are unaware that Josh recorded all but one of the songs on the self titled album, the song he does not appear on being Purity which contained his replacement Jim Root. The reason Josh left the band is between him and Slipknot, they are still good friends and he didn't leave because of touring and being away from his family, this is simply a rumour.

Anders Colsefini

Anders Colsefini (real name Andy Rouw) was the original lead vocalist of the hard rock group Slipknot. He was replaced by Corey Taylor after their self-released debut Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat. Anders formed Painface and was in the band during On A Pale Horse. Despite leaving Slipknot, he has a very close friendship with DJ Sid Wilson.

After MFKR, Slipknot believed that, in order to find a major label, they needed a more radio friendly voice (they said Anders's grunts were like Max Cavalera's), so they found Corey Taylor. The band still wanted Anders to perform backing vocals and percussion, but got tired of the idea and he quit publicly before Slipknot was signed to Roadrunner Records.

Anders is now in a band with the temporary name "Vice Grip Throttle." They have a demo EP recorded that will remain under wraps for now, as they are recording their first album in December 2005. Three samples can be heard from the band's website , along with a contest to determine the band's new name. Users will submit a band name that they came up with, and the band will use that name. The person will win a bundle of things (See website for more information). "Vice Grip Throttle" recently decided to stick with their temporary name despite the "Rename VGT" contest saying "It just makes too much sense, considering our style and personalities."

Mask
In place of wearing a mask like most Slipknot members, Anders wore electrical tape on his face, paint on his flesh, and a fur skin skirt. The tape was inspired from Dogfish Rising, where Shawn rips tape to make a special noise. The get-up was only worn on special occasions.

Anders's lyrics "Only one of us walks away" were used in "Only One," track 13 of Slipknot.

Donnie Steele

Donnie Steele was the original guitarist for Slipknot recruited even before Josh Brainard. He played guitar on their independent demo Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat.Before Slipknot, Steele was also in a band with current Slipknot members Mick Thompson, Paul Gray and original Slipknot vocalist Anders Colsefini called Body Pit. Steele left the band supposedly because he "found God", but this is unsubstantiated and is left to individual speculation. He did not wear a mask during his time with Slipknot.

Donnie Steele is currently living in Des Moines, Iowa with his girlfriend and 3 children. His musical endeavors include the death metal band Killpact and teaching guitar at his and his business partner's lesson studio called Central Iowa Music Instruction located down stairs from Dirk's guitars/Tragically Hip Vintage in Des Moines' East Village.

Donnie Steele has been a guitarist for 21 years, studying classical guitar for 20 years, and a guitar instructor for 18 years.

Other Ex-Members

John Green was one of the ex-guitarists for Slipknot.

Quan "Meld" Nong was the first singer, but only sang for the first year(1995). he is more widely known as the former guitarist for Slipknot in 1994 when the project first began under the nickname "Meld". However, sometime during the sixth practice of the band, Quan Nong left due to his following of a more alternative/punk style of music. He did not wear a mask. Though it seems otherwise, his name is actually spelled "Kun".

Patrick M. Neuwirth was the original guitarist from 1989 to 1993 (Slipknot chapter 1). Pat used to help Shawn Crahan's first band, Heads on the Wall, along with ex-guitarist Quan "Meld" Nong . He left the band a few months into spring of '92. Patrick did not wear a mask. Patrick currently makes a living as a metal sculptor and a furniture designer.