Outside his major projects, Jordison performed with various other acts such as Rob Zombie, Metallica, Korn, Ministry, Otep, and Satyricon.

"[3] He played guitar until receiving his first drum kit as a gift from his parents at age eight, and started his first band while in elementary school.

[8] After a multitude of lineup changes—including Craig Jones and Josh Brainard, who would reappear in Slipknot—the band released two demos in 1993: Visceral and Mud Fuchia.

Jordison was also involved in a band with future bandmate Paul Gray and vocalist Don Decker, named Anal Blast.

During the forming period of Slipknot, Paul recruited Joey to join a punk rock band called the Have Nots in the Spring of 1996.

[11] Intrigued and at a point where he was "lost",[13] Jordison attended rehearsals at Anders Colsefni's basement and immediately wanted to be part of this new band.

Speaking of this moment he said, "I remember trying so hard not to smile, so I didn't look like I wanted to join, I remained poker-faced, but I thought they ruled.

"[14] A lot of Slipknot's early development was discussed by band members while Jordison worked night shifts at Sinclair's garage.

[23] On August 22, 2009, Jordison was taken to the emergency room for a burst appendix, less than an hour before he was to take the stage for Auburn, Washington's KISW Pain in the Grass concert.

[26] On December 12, 2013, Slipknot announced through their official website that Jordison had left the band, citing personal reasons for his departure.

[27] In response, Jordison released a statement insisting that he had in fact been fired from the band and stated that Slipknot "has been my life for the last 18 years, and I would never abandon it, or my fans".

[28] After years of both sides being silent and evasive as to the reasons for his leaving the band, Jordison revealed in June 2016 that he suffered from transverse myelitis, a neurological disease that cost him the ability to play the drums toward the end of his time with Slipknot.

[29] While touring Ozzfest in 2001 to support Slipknot's studio album Iowa, Jordison met Tripp Eisen, then of Static-X; the two discussed forming a side project.

Wednesday eventually became a vocalist, while drummer Ben Graves and bassist Eric Griffin completed the band's lineup.

The tour was plagued with many problems including the cancellation of many shows and repeated incidents of Jordison storming off stage, most notably in Bordeaux, France (attributed to extreme tinnitus[38]) and Perth, Western Australia.

Little else was released except that Jordison had performed most instruments in this project and that Chris Vrenna and an unknown vocalist were to complete keyboard and vocal work, respectively.

[41] On May 20, 2016, Jordison announced a new extreme metal band Sinsaenum, dual fronted by vocalist Attila Csihar (of Mayhem and Sunn O)))) along with keyboardist Sean Zitarsky (of Chimaira and Dååth).

They announced the launch of their debut album Echoes of the Tortured on July 29, and released their first single "Army Of Chaos" on earMUSIC's YouTube channel.

[50] In late 2004, Jordison performed with Satyricon on their tour of the United States when drummer Frost was refused entry into the country.

As one of four "team captains" who wrote and produced material for the album,[58] Jordison said of the experience, "I thought it was a great idea and was really excited about it, because it was a chance to work with a lot of artists that I really respected while I was growing up.

[61] Jordison cited Neil Peart of Rush, Keith Moon of the Who, John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, Gene Krupa, and Buddy Rich as his main influences.

"[63] He described Lars Ulrich (of Metallica), Charlie Benante (of Anthrax), and Dave Lombardo (formerly of Slayer) as having a considerable influence on his drumming.

[62] Jordison used Pearl drums, hardware, rack system, pedals and percussion, Paiste cymbals, Remo Drumheads,[64] Promark drumsticks, ddrum triggers and Roland electronics.

[72] Following Jordison’s death in 2021, tributes were shared by several musicians including Mike Portnoy, Alex Skolnick of Testament, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, Dave Lombardo, Lars Ulrich, Ben Thatcher of Royal Blood, and multiple others.