Donnie Steele
| Donnie Steele | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Donald S. Steele |
| Born |
October 6, 1971 Des Moines, Iowa, USA |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Associated acts | Slipknot |
Donald S. "Donnie" Steele (born October 6, 1971) is an American heavy metal musician. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, 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. 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 contributed to the band's 2014 album .5: The Gray Chapter, but was later replaced full-time by Alessandro Venturella.
Donnie Steele began his career as a member of Des Moines, Iowa-based death metal band Body Pit, in which fellow future Slipknot members Anders Colsefni (vocals), Mick Thomson (guitar) and Paul Gray (bass) had all performed. He later co-founded Slipknot in September 1995, alongside Colsefni, second guitarist Josh "Gnar" Brainard, Gray, drummer Joey Jordison and percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan. He was described by Brainard as "a pretty technical guitar player" and "one of those multi-talented guys". Author Joel McIver partly credits Steele with the introduction of jazz 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 Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat., 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.
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