Remembering Jeff Hanneman of Slayer

Today (Jan. 31) we remember Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman. He would have been 53.

Jeff Hanneman was the guitarist and a founding member of Slayer, which he formed with guitarist Kerry King in 1981. Hanneman wrote the songs “Raining Blood”, “War Ensemble”, “South of Heaven”, “Seasons in the Abyss”, and “Angel of Death”. Slayer first rose to fame in 1986 with the release of Reign in Blood are knows as one of the “big four” thrash metal bands along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax.

After the death of Jeff Hanneman from liver failure due to alcohol-related cirrhosis on May 2, 2013, Kerry King confirmed that Slayer would continue, stating “Jeff is going to be in everybody’s thoughts for a long time. It’s unfortunate you can’t keep unfortunate things from happening. But we’re going to carry on- and he’ll be there in spirit.” I have many great memories of seeing Jeff and Slayer over the years. Always a killer show.

Crank some Slayer today in Jeff’s honor!