Slayer to Tour Without Jeff Hanneman

By: Staff

According to Billboard.com, metal legends Slayer are continuing to tour and play live without guitarist Jeff Hanneman, who is ill. However, Tom Araya, the band’s singer and bassist, assures that the group will not record any material in his absence.

“There’s no way we’d go into a studio without him,” Araya says. “As a band we’re not going to do something without him. He’s an integral part of the band. We require his musical skills, his writing skills. So we’re going to hold off until he’s at 100 percent and can join that process and be part of it.”

Hanneman is fighting off necrotizing fasciitis, an infection of flesh-eating bacteria that doctors say he likely contracted from a spider bite. While it’s looking good for his recovery, it will still take a lot of time for Hanneman to rehabilitate and get back in ship shape. He did play two songs at a recent Big Four concert in California, though.

“It was a big deal for him to play — for us it was, too,” the bassist, who’s had his own health issues with his neck, says. “We thought that would be a nice surprise for everybody and also make everybody aware that he’s still there. It’s pretty severe what he’s going through. He’s had skin grafts, and he’s got to rehabilitate his arm and get it back in shape again. It’s going to require a lot of time.”