Former Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison has died in his sleep aged 46.

The ‘Psychosocial’ hitmaker – who was one of the founding members of the heavy metal band – passed away on Monday (26.07.21) at the age of 46, and although a cause of death has not yet been announced, it has been confirmed he died in his sleep.

In a statement, Joey’s family said: “Joey’s death has left us with empty hearts and feelings of indescribable sorrow.

"To those that knew Joey, understood his quick wit, his gentle personality, giant heart, and his love for all things family and music.

"The family of Joey have asked that friends, fans, and media understandably respect our need for privacy and peace at this incredibly difficult time."

Family members also stated they will hold a private funeral service for him, but according to TMZ, a date has not yet been set.

Joey was 20 when he became one of the founding members of Slipknot in 1995 alongside Shawn 'Clown' Crahan and Paul 'the Pig' Gray.

Their debut album ‘Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.’ dropped on Halloween 1996 and they rose to become one of the iconic heavy metal groups.

Joey was a writer on a number of Slipknot's best-remembered songs including ‘Gematria (The Killing Name)’ and ‘My Plague’.

Although the band ultimately grew to include nine members Joey, the Pig and the Clown were part of the group throughout until Paul died of an overdose in 2010.

Outside of his success with Slipknot, Joey was also the guitarist for horror punk band Murderdolls, which also included solo metal star Wednesday 13.

Joey departed from Slipknot in 2013 and went on to form Scar the Martyr for whom he played the drums between 2013 and 2016, when the group disbanded.

Before his death, Joey was playing for the multinational blackened death metal supergroup Sinsaenum, which also included Frédéric Leclercq from DragonForce, Sean Zatorsky of Daath, and Attila Csihar of Mayhem.