Unfortunate news has shaken the music world today. Hard rock heavyweights Stone Sour have officially parted ways with guitarist Jim Root. The news was unofficially broken by Root on his Instagram account. When a fan asked whether or not Root was playing with Stone Sour on their three upcoming summer shows (July 18-20), Root simply replied, “I’m not in that band anymore. Not my decision. Not happy about it.” This only leads one to believe that there was more going on when Root sat out Stone Sour’s winter tour at the beginning of this year to reportedly finish up work on the new Slipknot album. This also begs the question of what will become of Slipknot, since it seems as though two of the band’s primary players Root and dual-vocalist Corey Taylor are not seeing eye-to-eye on things. A few months ago, Slipknot parted ways with drummer Joey Jordison. Time will only tell, but we can only hope for the best for all parties involved. There is no word yet on whether or not guitarist Christian Martucci, who filled in for Root on their last tour, will be his permanent replacement.
Today, Stone Sour officially announced the news of Root’s exit via Facebook:
“As some of you might have heard by now, Stone Sour and Jim Root have indeed parted ways. We were trying to wait until the completion of the new SK [Slipknot] album, but in light of recent events, we are going to confirm this information and move on. We feel it’s best for both bands and hope that is reflected in the days to come. We will give you more information when the time comes.”
Stone Sour released their 4th album, House of Gold & Bones: Part 1, back in October. The
album’s lead single, “Absolute Zero”, hit #1 on Active Rock Radio. The album debuted at #7 on the Billboard Top 200. The sequel, House of Gold & Bones: Part 2, came out in April 2013 and debuted at #9 on the Billboard Top 200. With only 4 albums under their belt, Stone Sour have sold over 4 million albums worldwide. Their self-titled debut and sophomore effort, Come What(ever) May, were both certified gold. Their third album, 2010′s Audio Secrecy, debuted at #6 on the Billboard Top 200. The band has been nominated for three Grammy Awards through the course of their career. This past spring, the band toured Australia on the massive Soundwave Festival. In between dates, they supported Linkin Park on their Australian headlining shows. – by Matt Bishop (STONE SOUR – LIVE PHOTO GALLERY)
