Beyond being a co-founder of Slipknot and a member of numerous other bands throughout his prolific career, Joey Jordison was also one of the most reliable hired guns in metal. The late drummer sat behind the kit on tours with Korn, Rob Zombie and Ministry, and he even had a brief stint as a fill-in for the almighty Metallica.
On the day of Download Festival in 2004, Lars Ulrich was rushed to the hospital with an unexpected illness, and his bandmates were left to scramble and find a replacement drummer before their headlining set that evening. Metallica were turned down by numerous musicians who were also performing at the U.K. festival, but Jordison stepped up to the plate and split drumming duties with Slayer's Dave Lombardo throughout the thrash OGs' set.
"The story was he'd played in a Metallica covers band prior to joining Slipknot, so knew a lot of their songs," Download booker Andy Copping remembered in a touching Instagram tribute to Jordison. "Joey, along with Slayer's Dave Lombardo, saved the day."
After Lombardo came out with the band for openers "Battery" and "The Four Horseman," Jordison entered the stage and performed eight more classics with Metallica while donning his Slipknot mask the whole time. The above footage is a snippet of the performance that includes Jordison bashing along to "For Whom The Bell Tolls," "Creeping Death" and "Seek and Destroy."
He absolutely nails the parts while also giving them a little bit of his signature Jordison flair. A true hero. Revisit the classic footage above via YouTube.
