Paul Gray of Slipknot Dead of Accidental OD

[RonJonSurfer]

SLIPKNOT bass player PAUL GRAY died of an accidental drug overdose, an autopsy has found.

Tests show the heavy metal star, 38, was killed by a mix of morphine and fentanyl, a synthetic morphine substitute.

Father-to-be Gray was also found to have "significant heart disease", according to a statement on the autopsy released by police in Iowa, US.

The rocker was found dead on May 24 in a hotel near Des Moines, the band's hometown.

The next day the eight surviving members appeared in public without their trademark ghoulish masks to honour their pal.

Grammy-winning Slipknot were co-founded by Gray in 1995.

The group became notorious for gigs in which bandmates broke each other's bones and set one another on fire.

Their most recent album, All Hope Is Gone, reached No2 in the British charts in 2008. Gray is survived by wife Brenna, who is pregnant with their first child.

[Heimann47]

R.I.P. Paul. You were an inspiration of mine.

[Lucky]

What a shame. Another young talent, husband and father gone too soon. RIP.