Slayer Guitarist Jeff Hanneman dead at 49

[GL]

SLAYER 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.

More in-depth article about his passing, including a detailed description of the events that lead to his passing as well as reactions from those in the band, available HERE.

[The Walking Dude]

Never been the biggest Slayer fan myself,but it's certainly a huge loss in the metal world. R.I.P.

[GL]

I know, same here. I was expecting it what with the condition he was in and how little progress they said he was making after as long as he was like this (the spider bite that caused it was said to have happened over a year ago) and while this wasn't as profound as Dio's passing, this is still a big shock and a huge loss.

[HNT]

I didn't say anything about this one right away, because it has me really bummed out, quite frankly. This one hit me like a ton of bricks. I certainly wasn't expecting it, as Slayer were supposed to start recording a new record for release later this year. That sure won't happen now. Slayer is hands down my favorite metal band, and is on the short list of my favorite bands. I've seen them live more than any other band (15 times) and it never got old. the Last two times I saw them (Big 4, Mayhem festival) I was a little disappointed that Hanneman wasn't there, and I was really looking forward to his return. Hey, at least I have three undisputed stone cold classics, and what I as a fan would say are a total of five nearly flawless records.

My neighbors probably aren't Slayer fans, but after the tribute that I gave Hanneman by playing Hell Awaits through Seasons in the Abyss in order, I imagine they probably are sorry he died too.

[GP]

I managed to see Slayer three times in 2005 with the original lineup and I always knew I would treasure the experiences because I knew Dave Lombardo would probably quit again. Little did I know that this would happen to Jeff, and now that makes me even more precious about those memories. Poor guy, and a fucking horrible way to be taken too.

[thenightcrawler]

Huge loss for the metal comunity.