Slipknot bassist found dead

Fans of heavy metal band Slipknot were mourning bassist Paul Gray, who was found dead in a hotel room.

A hotel employee found 38-year-old Gray in a room at the Town Plaza Hotel in Urbandale, a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, yesterday, police said.

Most of the band’s members grew up in the Des Moines area.

Police said foul play was not suspected and a post-mortem examination will be carried out today.

A person who answered the phone at the band’s record company, Roadrunner Records, declined to comment.

Slipknot’s self-titled debut in 1999 sold more than a million copies.

Known for its grotesque masks, the band won a Grammy in 2006 for best metal performance for the song 'Before I Forget'.

Gray lived in the nearby suburb of Johnston.

Slipknot emerged in the mid-1990s with an aggressive mix of heavy metal and a vocal style that included growling, rapping and singing. The band has been known for extreme behaviour during live performances, according to biographies.

In 2003, Gray admitted that he was on drugs when his Porsche collided with another car that year in Des Moines. No-one was seriously injured. Under a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped charges of possession of marijuana, cocaine and syringes.