Sid Wilson, the DJ and turntablist known as one of Slipknot's masked members, has reportedly been kicked out of the heavy metal band after being part of it for almost 30 years. The news comes just months after Wilson's split from his fiancée, Kelly Osbourne, adding a difficult personal backdrop to what would already be a significant professional upheaval for a founding-era member of one of metal's most recognisable acts.

Slipknot, formed in Iowa in the mid-1990s, built its reputation on elaborate masks and numbered identities, with Wilson performing as one of the group's percussion and turntable specialists for close to three decades. Details of the reported departure, including the band's official confirmation and reasons behind it, were not fully outlined in available reporting, but the development follows closely on from the end of Wilson's engagement to television personality Kelly Osbourne earlier this year.