Paul Gray

[Done_With_It!]

911 call says Slipknot bassist Paul Gray died of drug overdose
by John Atchison

May 24 was a date that fans of the band Slipknot would just as soon not remember, but will probably never forget. News broke quickly of the death of bassist Paul Gray, found in an Iowa hotel room dead of unknown causes. Being a rocker, surely the first thing that flashes into a person's mind is that he most likely died of an overdose. For fans of the band, and those that knew Paul best, thoughts were different. He was a man that was not seen doing drugs, played in a successful band, and had a young daughter on the way in the coming months. In other words, he had everything to live for.

However, today comes word from eyewitness accounts that perhaps everyone's worst fears are being realized. From physical evidence at the scene and accounts from the 911 audio tape released recently, it appears the bassist was indeed the victim of some sort of drug overdose. Obviously the actual cause of death will not be known until toxicology tests return in a matter of weeks, but sadly it seems to be heading in that direction. The question from this point will become why? It may have been more understandable if he was a known frequent user of drugs or alcohol, but there are no accounts of this to back that up.

As for the evidence mentioned earlier, well it seems to paint an all too familiar tale in the sudden death of rock and roll figures. A hotel employee was the first to discover the bassist body, as it was found in the corner of his hotel room, slumped over. The employee immediately phoned 911 to report the incident. The employee that discovered the body, Mike Kellow, was a maintenance worker at the TowneSuites where the band was staying and the released 911 tape gives the following account:

Kellow: “There’s a hypodermic needle next to the bed here.”

The dispatcher then asked if Gray was awake

Kellow: “Oh God, no. He’s all purple.”

Kellow then told the operator that Gray had been “gone awhile.”

Mr Kellow also reported the finding of a perscription drug bottle with the bassist's name on it, but no information has been given as to what the medication was. Police spokesmen will not go as far as the confirm all of this, but they do indicate that all evidence from the scene was collected and that the account given on the 911 call seems to be in line with what they are thinking at the present time.

Though this gives both fans and friends a cause as to why Gray passed away, it does little to answer lingering questions that will be in people's minds for quite awhile. Why did this young man who appeared to have everything going for him, including a child, succumb to this? Was this just a horrible accident of an infrequent user who took on too much, or a case of a musician that hid a secret away from not only his family, but his bandmates as well. Could it possibly have been a suicide attempt, brought on by a battle he may have had with personal issues that no one ever knew about?

The sad fact is that we will probably never know the answers to these riddle. As far as we know, no note was left behind, and no outward signs of mental anguish were visible to those close to him. The only drug related trouble he had ever had was in 2003 when he was busted for possession of pot and cocaine, but from that point on he appeared to have mended his ways and gone the straight and narrow. Members of the band that talked after his death indicated that he had been clean since that arrest and that if he had been doing something, they were completely fooled by him. They cited the fact that his wife being pregnant with their child and the huge success of their current album had him in great spirits with no signs of any type of problems.

In the end, this appears to be another tragic end to a career cut short far too early. What makes this one all the worse though is that if it turns out that drugs are the culprit, he may have been able to be saved. If that had happened, then he might have been there when his daughter is finally born and got to hold her in his arms. Now she will never know the touch of her father's hand or the sound of his voice. Yes, it is a sad tale, but one that occurs far too many times in a business where the pressure to perform night in and night out can exact a heavy toll on a band.