Slipknot’s Clown to Sit Out Upcoming Tour Dates, Issues Statement
Slipknot percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan will sit out an undetermined amount of upcoming shows, including an appearance at Download Festival, in order to tend to his wife who is dealing with "some health issues," as revealed in a personal statement on the band's social media pages.
The band is set to kick off a series of European tour dates today (June 7), which will occupy the remainder of the month before a stateside return for two festival appearances in July (Rock Fest and Inkcarceration Festival), followed by a performance at Blue Ridge Rock Festival in September.
In the statement, Clown details that he'll be spending time at home "supporting my wife through some health issues," with an aim to "be back on the road as soon as I can."
The percussionist, who had to bow out of an Australian tour in 2016 after the death of his father-in-law, notes, "We've been through this before and as always, we appreciate the love and support.
See the full statement directly below.
Hello to all of our fans, it’s the clown. I would like to take a moment to tell everyone that I’m back home supporting my wife through some health issues, and I’ll be back on the road as soon as I can.
We’ve been through this before and as always, we appreciate the love and support. See all of you very soon.
Thank you.
clown
READ MORE: Slipknot Part Ways With Craig Jones, Release Statement
In a newly published interview that was conducted prior to this announcement, Clown tells Kerrang! that he is constantly feeling the weight of time itself and how it has come bearing down on him.
“I feel like I’m taking a much more different approach to every day that I live. I’m a much more spiritual man. I find my art is more honest and truthful if I allow myself to recognize who I am more," he says of the man he is today, adding, "The thing I’ve been fighting the most is the Clown. My therapist says that I only tell the truth when I’m wearing the mask. I’ll leave you to be the judge of that.
Clown Ponders His Own Future in Slipknot
Elsewhere, he ponders the significance of Slipknot as a band whose whole is greater than the sum of their parts, wondering just how much bigger this all is than himself as an individual member.
Clown asks Kerrang!, “I’ll leave that up to you, but this is the question: would the people of Download demand to see Slipknot still if I wasn’t in the band? I, Clown, am not in the band anymore. Do the people demand it? Tell me the truth, now. Don’t think about it."
The long-running heavy metal outlet offers a candid response, relaying that Slipknot are indeed bigger than its members and that "people come for the entity that is Slipknot, not because of who is individually behind each mask."
Appreciative of this honesty, Clown responds, “I want to thank you very much for saying that. Because in my life that I’ve dedicated to the wonderful thought process known as Slipknot, that I’ve shared with so many wonderful people, I believe that it is an entity. And quite frankly, I used to be made fun of by my own band members for using that word. I’d be like, ‘Slipknot is an entity, and if you don’t know it, it’s going to be. It’s going to encompass your thoughts, your feelings, goosebumps, your blood.’"
“I too believe that if the Clown was not onstage, after these 26 shows, that Slipknot would go on," he says, reassuring everyone (prior to the news about having to sit out to aid his wife), "Now, I am gonna be there! I’m just saying that when I walk out onstage every night, I’m gonna go, ‘Wow, can I be here?’ I’m scared. But that’s what Slipknot has been from day one. You’d better be scared, too.”
Slipknot on Tour
Head to the Slipknot website to see all of the band's upcoming shows as they continue to support last year's album The End, So Far and get your tickets here.
