Picture: Victoria Morse
Guitarist and co-founder of American thrash metal vets Slayer, Jeff Hanneman died in Southern California on Thursday morning. The band confirmed the news via a post on their website. Hanneman was 49.
“Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California home. Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure. He is survived by his wife Kathy, his sister Kathy and his brothers Michael and Larry, and will be sorely missed,” the post read.
Hanneman had been battling ill health for quite some time. He was recovering from a flesh eating disease, necrotising fasciitis that he contracted from a spider bite. The band had been touring on and off with guest guitarist Gary Holt from Exodus. They performed their first gig in India in October, 2012 in Bengaluru. In an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone India at the time, co-founding member Kerry King was looking forward to having Hanneman back in the band soon following his recovery. “The idea is to get him back. We’re just gonna wait and see if he can ever physically do it,” he had said.
Hanneman is credited with writing Slayer’s best known tracks like Raining Blood and Angel of Death off their 1986 album “Reign of Blood.”
Listen to this YouTube tribute to Haneman:
