Former drummer Joey Jordison, one of the founding members of the American metal band Slipknot, has passed away at the age of 46. The cause of death hasn’t been made public, but Billboard received a statement from Joey’s family saying that “[He] passed away peacefully in his sleep on July 26, 2021”. Joey’s family members will hold a private funeral service and hope that the media will respect their wishes.

Since the news broke out, the official Slipknot social media accounts, such as Facebook and Twitter, changed their profile picture and header image to all black while sharing a black image without any caption.

Joey’s absence from the world has also stirred a slew of emotions within the Japanese rock scene and notably, many of the more emotional reactions were shared by drummers.

We translated a few of the ones shared by drummers, let’s take a look.

Naoki (DEATHGAZE, ex-DEXCORE)

Joey… You’ve been a huge influence to me through your remarkable performances and sound. This is something that will never change. — @DrumsNaoki

Natsu (NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST)

The original tweet by Natsu is written in English:

I watched this video when I was 15 years old. It was very shocking and very moving. Without it, I wouldn’t be playing drums in the style that I do right now. Thank you very much Joey Jordison. You’re my hero forever. Rest In Peace. — @Natsu_NB

Zyean (JILUKA)

I just can’t believe it.

At the beginning, when I entered the world of metal, he was the first drummer to completely astound me. The first snare drum I bought was actually his model. Please, rest in peace. — @Zyean_JILUKA

Reizi (DEXCORE)

I’ve been using the Joey Jordison Signature Snare for more than 10 years now. Thanks to it and how I incorporated it into my playstyle, the result is particularly explosive.

I’ll continue using it from now on. — @reizi_dexcore

Miharu (Dokuga)

He undeniably told me “I’m with you all times, OK?”, that’s why he is and will always be next to me.

I hesitated to upload this here, but I really want people to know more about what kind of person he is.

He’s not only saying this to me, but to everyone. He is that kind of person.

I LOVE YOU JOEY. — @dokuga_miharu

For those who are unaware, Slipknot’s presence in Japan has always been far and wide and influenced generations of Japanese rock artists. Expanding its reach, Japan is also one of the few countries that are treated with the Slipknot-born festival, “Knotfest”. In Japan, it features a mix of the greatest western and Japanese bands, of course, headlined by Slipknot themselves.

Even recently, ACME’s vocalist Chisa voiced how he loves Slipknot in a YouTube video. And the main face of Japan’s cutest group BABYBEARD, who calls himself “Ladybeard”, prominently mentioned how Slipknot has been a determining factor to his stage performance.

But it’s not all one-sided. In 2018, Joey made a remark mentioning “Yet another reason why I love Japan…” while posing with the red mascot drummer Nyango Star from Aomori prefecture.

For me personally, Joey Jordison was the most influential figure from Slipknot. Even while wearing a mask and being a drummer at the back, his charisma shone brighter than any of the members. His unique playstyle transcended any modern drummer at the time too, when Slipknot was rising and at its peak.

Be it on stage or in recordings, Joey’s performance has always been the most enjoyable part of listening to Slipknot—and always will be.

Your spirit will undoubtedly live on, thank you for everything.