Donnie Steele is an American heavy metal musician. He is best known as one of two original guitarists in Slipknot. Steele co-founded Slipknot in 1995, performing on the band's debut demo ''

Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. ''Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat.'' is the first album recorded by American heavy metal music, heavy metal band Slipknot (band), Slipknot, and their only release with original lead vocalist Anders Colsefni. The album was limited to 1,000 copies, with d ...

''. He left in 1996 and was replaced by Craig "133" Jones, but later rejoined in 2011 as the touring bassist following the 2010 death of Paul Gray. Steele was part of the recording sessions for the band's 2014 album '' .5: The Gray Chapter'', but left at some point before the album was finished and was replaced by

Alessandro Venturella Alessandro "Alex" Venturella is a British musician who is the current bassist for American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Slipknot (band), Slipknot. He previously has served as a lead guitarist for Krokodil and Cry for Silence. Earlier in ...

. According to

Jim Root James Donald Root (born October 2, 1971) is an American guitarist. He is one of two guitarists for heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #4, as well as the former lead guitarist for rock band Stone Sour. Life and career R ...

, some of Steele's bass tracks were used for the album though he did not specify which tracks feature Steele on bass.

Career

1995–1997: Early career and Slipknot

Donnie Steele began his career as a member of

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

-based death metal band Body Pit, in which fellow future Slipknot members Anders Colsefni (vocals),

Mick Thomson Mickael Gordon "Mick" Thomson (born November 3, 1973) is an American musician. He is one of two guitarists for the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #7. Thomson originally met founding Slipknot members Anders Colsefni, Donn ...

(guitar) and Paul Gray (bass) had all performed. He later co-founded Slipknot in September 1995, alongside Colsefni, Gray, second guitarist Josh "Gnar" Brainard, drummer Joey Jordison and percussionist

Shawn "Clown" Crahan Michael Shawn Crahan (born September 24, 1969), more commonly known by his stage persona "Clown", is an American musician. He is the co-founder and one of two percussionists for heavy metal band Slipknot in which he is designated #6. Crahan he ...

. He was described by Brainard as "a pretty technical guitar player" and "one of those multi-talented guys". Author

Joel McIver Joel McIver (born 10 February 1971) is a British author. His best-known work is ''Justice for All: The Truth About Metallica'', first published in 2004 and appearing in nine languages since then. McIver's other works include biographies of Bla ...

partly credits Steele with the introduction of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

elements to the band's sound, describing the guitarist as a "self-confessed jazzbo". In early 1996, after the recording of the band's debut demo ''

'', Steele began to miss a number of Slipknot rehearsal sessions. The other band members attempted to track the guitarist down, but had to continue on without him, until one of them later saw him by chance and was told that he no longer wanted to be in the group. According to Brainard, Steele "felt that playing with Slipknot was against his Christian beliefs"; the rest of the band respected the guitarist's reasons for choosing to leave, although both Brainard and Colsefni have criticised his lack of communication regarding his decision to do so. With concerts forthcoming, Steele was quickly replaced by Craig Jones who later became the band's sampler.

2011–2014: Return to Slipknot on bass

Following the death of Gray in May 2010, Slipknot took a brief hiatus and later announced that Steele would replace the bassist for upcoming tour dates. In an official statement, the band explained that "Donnie was in the band at the very beginning, and rather than get an outsider, we thought it would be a fitting tribute to Paul to play with someone from within the family". Speaking about his return to the band, percussionist

explained that the decision to invite Steele to replace Gray "felt completely comfortable", adding that the band was "not gonna have some jackass from another band come into our world ... Donnie's family. Donnie's from the stone of the 'Knot". During live performances, Steele remained backstage out of sight of the crowd. Despite praising him for fitting back into Slipknot well, Crahan justified this decision by asking "What gives him the right to be onstage with us right now?", elaborating that "When we're going through an experience like this with our fans, they need to concentrate on the eight members that are grieving, not on someone new". Steele decided to leave the band during the recording sessions for " .5: The Gray Chapter", and was replaced by

in 2014, but he recorded some bass parts for the album according to guitarist

Other projects and contributions

Aside from Slipknot, Donnie Steele formed the death metal group Killpact in 2001 with vocalist Rick Funderburk, bassist Steve Pundzak and drummer Ernie McGinn (who had previously performed in Body Pit). In an interview with MFKR1, a website dedicated to the early incarnations of Slipknot, he described the band as "a mixture of death metal, 80's

thrash Thrash may refer to: *Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work *Thrash (surname) * Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers *'' Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video gam ...

and shred with a strong emphasis on

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

s". In 2016, Steele made a guest appearance contributing some solos for the debut album by Des Moines-based groove metal band Murder Earth, ''Waiting (For the End of Man)'', following the departure of guitarist Ryan Thornton.

Discography

;with Slipknot *''

'' (1996) *'' .5: The Gray Chapter'' (2014) ;with Murder Earth *''Waiting (For the End of Man)'' (2016)

References

* *

Footnotes

External links

Slipknot official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Donnie Living people Musicians from Des Moines, Iowa American heavy metal guitarists American heavy metal bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Slipknot (band) members Guitarists from Iowa American male guitarists 21st-century American bass guitarists Year of birth missing (living people)