The Latest Breaking News from Jeff Hanneman

9 heavy metal stars who made it big with their first band

From Lars Ulrich to Lzzy Hale, these are the rare metal musicians who hit the big time on their very first go

Metal Hammer · Jun 2, 2024

“It was funny when I first met James Hetfield. I was like, ‘Thank you for teaching me how to play guitar. You paved the way for me’”: Mastodon's Bill Kelliher on how meeting his guitar heroes pushed him to improve his craft

Mastodon's Bill Kelliher also credits Slayer's Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman for changing his previously nonchalant attitude to warming up before a show

Guitar World · May 15, 2024

“I think Jeff not being around had a lot to do with Tom leaving Slayer”: Jeff Hanneman wouldn’t have wanted Slayer to retire, says Kerry King

Slayer guitarist Kerry King has said that the late Jeff Hanneman would have wanted the metal legends to stay together

Metal Hammer · May 15, 2024

“I got phone calls from myfriends saying, ‘What the f*ck is up with that sh*t?!’” Listen to the Slayer cover of Born To Be Wild that Slayer really don’t like

In 2002, thrash metal deities Slayer covered a Steppenwolf classic. Then Kerry King disowned it and Jeff Hanneman got bullied by his mates.

Metal Hammer · May 5, 2024

"CBS dumped us and we couldn’t get the record out for ages": Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King on the making of Slayer's Angel Of Death – and the fallout that followed

In 2011 Slayer's guitarists reflected on their classic and the blowback from its subject matter

MusicRadar · Apr 3, 2024

“We can make records until our hands fall off. But if we can’t sell it live, I don’t want to”: how Slayer reconnected with 80s thrash and made World Painted Blood

Slayer’s 2009 album World Painted Blood was the best since their 80s heyday – and this is how they made it

Metal Hammer · Mar 31, 2024

“We’ve got lots of leftover material from Repentless – we wrote so much stuff!” The story of the lost final Slayer album

After Repentless, Slayer guitarist Kerry King promised the thrashers had enough music left over to make a 13th album. It never materialised.

Metal Hammer · Jan 30, 2024

"We’d build our own pyro - there was a lot of smoke and chaos": Dave Lombardo talks Cuban heritage, befriending Mike Patton and why Slayer were the greatest thrash metal band

One of thrash metal's architects, Dave Lombardo recounts a life in music from Slayer to Dead Cross, Testament to Empire State Bastard

Metal Hammer · Nov 21, 2023

"He was Slayer. He affected a lot of people and he didn’t even realise it.” The life and tragic death of Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman

Jeff Hanneman was the architect behind some of Slayer's biggest - and most infamous - songs but his 2011 passing was a tragedy that shook thrash metal

Metal Hammer · Jul 13, 2023

"The other kids in school voted me 'Class Clown'". From taking English lessons to becoming a thrash legend, the life of Slayer's Tom Araya, in his own words

Moving to Los Angeles from his native Chile in the 1960s, Tom Araya began a journey that'd take him to heavy metal immortality

Metal Hammer · Jul 3, 2023