In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Kerry King reflected on the last years of his SLAYER bandmate Jeff Hanneman, elucidating his reasons for limiting the guitarist’s participation to just two songs at the iconic Big Four event.
Jeff Hanneman was undeniably among the most adored and highly respected musicians in the entire metal scene. Consequently, both his fans and fellow bandmates were deeply affected by the revelation of Hanneman contracting necrotizing fasciitis, purportedly from a spider bite.
Following his diagnosis, Gary Holt of EXODUS and Pat O’Brien of CANNIBAL CORPSE stepped in to fill Hanneman‘s boots. Nevertheless, the SLAYER guitarist and co-founder did make a triumphant return for the historic Big Four event organized by METALLICA, where he delivered memorable performances of “South Of Heaven” and “Angel of Death.”
When asked if it was hard for him to move without Jeff, Kerry responded: “We always assumed that he’d be able to come back and hopefully join us for more than just the f**king Big Four show he did. But that didn’t pan out.
“I think the last year he toured with us was 2010. He wanted to come back. And I told him, ‘“’If you’re not a hundred percent, people are going to know immediately.’”’ We had that conversation before the Big Four when he came back. He’d learned four songs. I talked to Tom about it, and I said, “Listen, it’s in our best interest and Jeff’s best interest to play two songs because people are going to be so stoked to see him, they’re not going to hear him play anything.
“So I went to Jeff with this and he’s like, ‘Yeah, but I learned four songs’. I said, ‘You are going to be excited, so you’re going to be extra intense, and by the third song, people are going to start realizing that you’re not playing at a hundred percent.’ It’s probably the hardest conversation I have had in my life. I said, ‘That’s how it is, man. I’m doing you a favor.’ And in hindsight, no one ever had anything bad to say about that show because they never had a chance to.
Hanneman died of liver failure on May 2, 2013, in a Southern California hospital near his home. On May 9, 2013, the official cause of death was announced as alcohol-related cirrhosis. Hanneman and his family had apparently been unaware of the extent of the condition until shortly before his death.
SLAYER played its final show of their farewell tour in November 2019 at the Forum in Los Angeles. One day later, Kerry King‘s wife, Ayesha King, said that there is “not a chance in hell” that the thrash metal icons will reunite for more shows.
