“After 25 years of taking on the music business, we find ourselves with a partner that is willing to sign onto continuing what Slipknot started”
For the last 25 years, Slipknot have been one of the most dominant forces in music. In addition to sold out concert tours and headlining performances at the biggest festivals around the globe, Slipknot’s catalog is one of the most commercially powerful in modern metal, built on seven studio albums, three live albums, two compilations and nearly 30 singles since their 1999 major-label debut. Their self-titled breakthrough Slipknot (1999) started modestly at No. 51 on the Billboard 200 but became their defining classic, recently upgraded to triple-platinum status in the U.S., with multi-platinum or platinum certifications in the UK, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. The ultra-heavy follow-up Iowa (2001) pushed them into the global mainstream, hitting No. 3 in the U.S., No. 1 in the UK, and earning platinum certifications in America, the UK and several other territories.
Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) (2004) continued the climb with a No. 2 debut on the Billboard 200 and a U.S. platinum award, while 2008’s All Hope Is Gone gave Slipknot their first U.S. No. 1 album (also topping charts in multiple countries) and at least a gold RIAA certification. The band repeated that feat in the 2010s with .5: The Gray Chapter (2014) and We Are Not Your Kind (2019), both debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, while their most recent studio record The End, So Far (2022) entered at No. 2 in the U.S., underscoring how consistent their chart power has remained over two decades.
On the singles side, Slipknot have released around 28 singles, with signature tracks such as “Wait and Bleed,” “Left Behind,” “Duality,” “Before I Forget,” “Psychosocial,” “Snuff,” “The Devil in I” and “Unsainted” all charting on U.S. rock formats; “Duality” and “Before I Forget” became crossover anthems on Billboard’s Alternative and Mainstream Rock charts, and “Before I Forget” also won the band a Grammy.
Their discography boasts multiple RIAA platinum titles (Slipknot, Iowa, Vol. 3, and All Hope Is Gone) plus a gold-certified live album (9.0: Live), and estimates suggest they have sold over 9.3 million pure albums worldwide while their overall discography (albums, singles, video releases and other formats) has moved more than 30 million records globally and generated billions of streams.
Now, Slipknot have sold a majority stake in their music catalog to HarbourView Equity Partners. While neither Slipknot nor HarbourView revealed any financial details of the agreement, Billboard previously reported that the deal was worthy approximately $120 million. Included in HarbourView’s stake are both publishing and recorded royalties.
“After 25 years of taking on the music business, we find ourselves with a partner that is willing to sign onto continuing what Slipknot has started,” percussionist M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan said in a statement. “Only they want to go even bigger. Get ready. Hail the Knot.”
“Slipknot’s music has redefined heavy metal and created a global cultural phenomenon,” said Sherrese Clarke, Founder and CEO of HarbourView Equity Partners. “Their catalog is a testament to their influence, passion, and enduring artistry within the genre. We pride ourselves on having our finger on the pulse of culture and with through analysis of audience engagement, we clearly see the cultural impact of Slipknot from the 1990s to the present. The enduring and relevant proof points with Slipknot remain core to our investing thesis, and HarbourView is honored t0 help preserve and amplify the group’s work for decades and generations to come.”