SID WILSON’s exit from SLIPKNOT was reportly “a long time coming”

SID WILSON's exit from SLIPKNOT was reportly “a long time coming”

04-08-2026

TMZ has revealed more information about the apparent firing of longtime SLIPKNOT member Sid Wilson.

On Friday, July 31, TMZ reported that DJ and keyboardist Wilson, 49, had been permanently removed from SLIPKNOT earlier that day, ending his 28-year run with the Iowa-based metallers. The outlet cited a source close to the band with direct knowledge of the situation.

TMZ shared a follow-up report indicating that Sid‘s exit from SLIPKNOT was “a long time coming” and that the decision to kick him out of the band “came after the group finally had enough of Sid‘s behavior … namely, the way he treated his bandmates.”

According to TMZ, SLIPKNOT was planning to announce Sid‘s departure this week, but the band “lost control of the rollout” when TMZ first reported Wilson‘s dismissal on Friday.

The same day that Wilson‘s exit from SLIPKNOT was first reported, the band’s guitarist Jim Root shared a cryptic Instagram Stories post that appeared to address the reported drama, soundtracked by SLIPKNOT‘s 2008 song “‘Til We Die”.

“Don’t believe everything you read,” Root wrote. “Stop. Think. Take a breath. Sit with it for awhile. Maybe. Just maybe even wait until there’s more information.”

Wilson had been a member of SLIPKNOT for nearly three decades, joining in 1998 shortly before the release of the band’s self-titled debut record.

In May 2022, Sid and his now-former fiancée Kelly Osbourne — daughter of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne — announced on Instagram that they were expecting their first child together. Sidney was born in November 2022 and shares both of his parents’ last names.

Sid started dating Kelly in 2022, after being good friends for a number of years, and in July 2025, it was announced that Wilson and Osbourne got engaged at BLACK SABBATH‘s farewell show, just weeks before Ozzy‘s death.

This past March, it was reported that Kelly and Sid had split. They were said to have quietly ended their engagement weeks earlier according to the Daily Mail. They were last pictured together at the Grammy Awards in February.

As a member of SLIPKNOT, who use numerical stage names, ranging from 0 to 8, Wilson was known as #0, producing sound effects and background noises for the group’s music.

Since the 2000s, Wilson had also occasionally toured as under the name DJ Starscream, which derives from the “Transformers” character of the same name.

SLIPKNOT‘s latest album “The End, So Far”, arrived in August 2022. It marked the band’s the last full-length LP before the departure of both keyboardist Craig Jones, who left the group in June 2023, and Weinberg.

Produced by SLIPKNOT and Joe Barresi, “The End, So Far” includes the band’s 2021 surprise single “The Chapeltown Rag” and follows their widely celebrated 2019 album “We Are Not Your Kind”, which marked SLIPKNOT‘s third consecutive No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The release made a massive global impact with No. 1 debuts in the official album charts of twelve countries around the world, including the U.K., Australia, Canada and Mexico, with Top 5 debuts in an additional twelve countries including Germany, France and Sweden.

Regarding the lyrical inspiration for “The Dying Song (Time To Sing)”, SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor told Kerrang! magazine: “To me, it just seems like it’s all the outrage and none of the punishment. For the last few years it’s been very trendy to be offended and outraged by everything, and yet nothing happens – especially in my country, which is just fucking ridiculous. It’s almost like the tables have turned, and the more angry people get, the more the people who they’re mad at just double-down on the shit. Instead of there being cause and effect, or crime and punishment, now it’s just like, ‘Fuck you, we don’t care.’ I can’t tell if that’s a reaction because of the almost nihilistic isolation of the cultures themselves, where neither side is acknowledging any of the good parts of each other – they’re just really honed in on the shit that they consider inflammatory. And it’s almost like people are ringing the doomsday bell. You’re sitting there going, ‘Well, it’s been fun! Everybody, pick up your trash when you’re leaving, and I’ll see you in Hell!’ That’s kind of what that song is. It’s just like, ‘If we don’t figure it out, I’ll see you when the meteor hits, basically.'”

As for SLIPKNOT‘s working relationship with Barresi, Taylor said: “He’s one of those dudes who’s got great ideas, but he also allows you to do what is on your mind. If he has an idea, he lets you pursue yours, but then he’ll go, ‘You know, just for me, try this and see if these things can live together.’ He’s very unassuming, which is kind of rare these days. Sometimes you can get a producer who’s trying to enforce their will on it, but Joe just wants what’s best for the album, and what’s best for the song, and what’s best for the performance.”

“The End, So Far” track listing:

01. Adderall
02. The Dying Song (Time To Sing)
03. The Chapeltown Rag
04. Yen
05. Hivemind
06. Warranty
07. Medicine For The Dead
08. Acidic
09. Heirloom
10. H377
11. De Sade
12. Finale

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