SLAYER Guitarist JEFF HANNEMAN Dead At 49
\r\nSLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman passed away at about 11 a.m. today (Thursday, May 2) near his Southern California home. He was 49. 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.
\r\n
\r\nHanneman — who in January 2011\r\ncontracted necrotizing fasciitis, likely caused by a spider bite, and \r\nhas been undergoing surgeries, skin grafts and intense rehab since — \r\nspoke to U.K.’s Classic Rock magazine in the fall of 2011 about his recovery which has seen him sit out an entire two years’ worth of touring with the band.
\r\n
\r\nHanneman was kicking back in a hot tub with a couple of beers when noticed a spider bite him on the arm.
\r\n
\r\n"Didn’t\r\neven feel it," he said. "But an hour later, I knew that I was ill." On \r\nhis way to the hospital, "I could see the flesh corrupting," he \r\nrecalled. "The arm was real hot. I got to the emergency room, and thank \r\ngod the nurse knew straight away what it was. By chance, although it’s \r\npretty rare, she had seen a case a little while before. At that point, I\r\nwas an hour away from death."
\r\n
\r\nAlthough the spider bite itself \r\nwas not serious, it had caused bacterial infection in the deeper layers \r\nof the skin and tissues of the arm.
\r\n
\r\n"Unbelievably, the doctor was a SLAYER fan," said Hanneman,\r\n"First thing he said to me was: ’First I am going to save your life. \r\nThen I am going to save your arm. Then I am going to save your career.’"
\r\n
\r\nHanneman\r\nunderwent emergency surgery to remove the dead and dying tissue. The \r\ndoctor was able to save the muscles and the tendons, but the guitarist \r\nhad a large open wound on his arm. He spent the next two months in \r\nhospital, having extensive skin grafts and heavy doses of antibiotics to\r\nsuppress the infection.
\r\n
\r\n"I had to learn to walk again," Hanneman\r\nsaid: "I hadn’t stood up for a month, apart from anything else. The \r\nskin grafts were very painful and all the muscles and tendons in the arm\r\nwhere very weak. That was OK, though. I count myself lucky that the \r\nnurse and doctor knew right away what had happened to me, because things\r\ncould have been a whole lot worse."
\r\n
\r\nAt the April 2011 "Big Four" concert in Indio, California, Hanneman joined SLAYER onstage for a two-song encore, but he hasn’t yet been able to tour again.
\r\n
\r\nIn a March 1, 2013 interview with MetalObsession.net’s Nick Tevelis, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King stated about Jeff Hanneman’s health status: "I don’t have an update. I haven’t seen Jeff\r\nin forever. He’s always been a recluse, and he’s even been more of a \r\nrecluse since he’s not going on tour with us. But our manager talks to \r\nhim from time to time and sees him in L.A. just randomly. But I’m far \r\nfrom L.A., so I’m not in that loop. But I guess he’s just getting \r\nbetter. It’s just one of those things where he can do anything in life. \r\nHe could be hanging here having a good time with us. He can probably \r\nplay ’South Of Heaven’, but he’s not gonna be playing ’Jihad’, you know what I mean?! So it’s just a muscle memory kind of thing, I guess, at this point."
\r\n
\r\nAsked whether Jeff had been involved in the songwriting process for the new SLAYER album, Kerry said: "It’s just all my stuff for now. But I did that just in case, ’cause I don’t know what Jeff’s intentions are. So I wanted to have SLAYER covered in case he doesn’t come to the party. If he comes to the party, then we’ve got tons of songs."
\r\n
\r\nRegarding whether contingencies had been made in case Jeff doesn’t make it back to SLAYER in the near future, Kerry said: "I think Gary [Holt, EXODUS guitarist who has been filling in for Jeff\r\nfor the past couple of years] is in for the long haul. I haven’t really\r\ndiscussed it with him. But he keeps his schedule free when he knows \r\nwe’re on tour. And I’m pretty sure, if Jeff all of a sudden came back in June, we would probably pay Gary for freeing up his time. I don’t wanna treat somebody that’s bailed us out for two years badly. But if Gary played with us forever? I’m OK with that. But if Jeff\r\ngot better and said, ’Hey, man, I’m ready to play,’ and he came to \r\nrehearsal and showed us he was good enough, that’s his show."
\r\n
\r\nSpeaking with AndrewHaug.com during this year’s Soundwave festival in Australia, SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya stated about Hanneman:\r\n"Even though he’s not in the picture, he’s still part of the picture, \r\nIt’s taken him a lot longer [to recover] than he even thought. He can \r\nplay and he can work out the material but… It’s like everything else, \r\ndepending on how you are health-wise as a person, that affects how you \r\nheal. Even though you haven’t seen him live, he’s still part of the \r\nband."
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\nHanneman — who in January 2011\r\ncontracted necrotizing fasciitis, likely caused by a spider bite, and \r\nhas been undergoing surgeries, skin grafts and intense rehab since — \r\nspoke to U.K.’s Classic Rock magazine in the fall of 2011 about his recovery which has seen him sit out an entire two years’ worth of touring with the band.
\r\n
\r\nHanneman was kicking back in a hot tub with a couple of beers when noticed a spider bite him on the arm.
\r\n
\r\n"Didn’t\r\neven feel it," he said. "But an hour later, I knew that I was ill." On \r\nhis way to the hospital, "I could see the flesh corrupting," he \r\nrecalled. "The arm was real hot. I got to the emergency room, and thank \r\ngod the nurse knew straight away what it was. By chance, although it’s \r\npretty rare, she had seen a case a little while before. At that point, I\r\nwas an hour away from death."
\r\n
\r\nAlthough the spider bite itself \r\nwas not serious, it had caused bacterial infection in the deeper layers \r\nof the skin and tissues of the arm.
\r\n
\r\n"Unbelievably, the doctor was a SLAYER fan," said Hanneman,\r\n"First thing he said to me was: ’First I am going to save your life. \r\nThen I am going to save your arm. Then I am going to save your career.’"
\r\n
\r\nHanneman\r\nunderwent emergency surgery to remove the dead and dying tissue. The \r\ndoctor was able to save the muscles and the tendons, but the guitarist \r\nhad a large open wound on his arm. He spent the next two months in \r\nhospital, having extensive skin grafts and heavy doses of antibiotics to\r\nsuppress the infection.
\r\n
\r\n"I had to learn to walk again," Hanneman\r\nsaid: "I hadn’t stood up for a month, apart from anything else. The \r\nskin grafts were very painful and all the muscles and tendons in the arm\r\nwhere very weak. That was OK, though. I count myself lucky that the \r\nnurse and doctor knew right away what had happened to me, because things\r\ncould have been a whole lot worse."
\r\n
\r\nAt the April 2011 "Big Four" concert in Indio, California, Hanneman joined SLAYER onstage for a two-song encore, but he hasn’t yet been able to tour again.
\r\n
\r\nIn a March 1, 2013 interview with MetalObsession.net’s Nick Tevelis, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King stated about Jeff Hanneman’s health status: "I don’t have an update. I haven’t seen Jeff\r\nin forever. He’s always been a recluse, and he’s even been more of a \r\nrecluse since he’s not going on tour with us. But our manager talks to \r\nhim from time to time and sees him in L.A. just randomly. But I’m far \r\nfrom L.A., so I’m not in that loop. But I guess he’s just getting \r\nbetter. It’s just one of those things where he can do anything in life. \r\nHe could be hanging here having a good time with us. He can probably \r\nplay ’South Of Heaven’, but he’s not gonna be playing ’Jihad’, you know what I mean?! So it’s just a muscle memory kind of thing, I guess, at this point."
\r\n
\r\nAsked whether Jeff had been involved in the songwriting process for the new SLAYER album, Kerry said: "It’s just all my stuff for now. But I did that just in case, ’cause I don’t know what Jeff’s intentions are. So I wanted to have SLAYER covered in case he doesn’t come to the party. If he comes to the party, then we’ve got tons of songs."
\r\n
\r\nRegarding whether contingencies had been made in case Jeff doesn’t make it back to SLAYER in the near future, Kerry said: "I think Gary [Holt, EXODUS guitarist who has been filling in for Jeff\r\nfor the past couple of years] is in for the long haul. I haven’t really\r\ndiscussed it with him. But he keeps his schedule free when he knows \r\nwe’re on tour. And I’m pretty sure, if Jeff all of a sudden came back in June, we would probably pay Gary for freeing up his time. I don’t wanna treat somebody that’s bailed us out for two years badly. But if Gary played with us forever? I’m OK with that. But if Jeff\r\ngot better and said, ’Hey, man, I’m ready to play,’ and he came to \r\nrehearsal and showed us he was good enough, that’s his show."
\r\n
\r\nSpeaking with AndrewHaug.com during this year’s Soundwave festival in Australia, SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya stated about Hanneman:\r\n"Even though he’s not in the picture, he’s still part of the picture, \r\nIt’s taken him a lot longer [to recover] than he even thought. He can \r\nplay and he can work out the material but… It’s like everything else, \r\ndepending on how you are health-wise as a person, that affects how you \r\nheal. Even though you haven’t seen him live, he’s still part of the \r\nband."
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\nPictured below: Jeff Hanneman on April 23, 2011 in Indio, California (photo credit: Andrew Stuart)
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n
\r\n