I remember like it was yesterday, the tragic loss of Slayer guitarist and co-founder, Jeff Hanneman, who passed away on this date three years ago.
Hanneman wrote many of the best known songs, including “Angel of Death” on Slayer’s landmark 1986 album “Reign of Blood.”
Hanneman passed away at the all-too young age of 49 from alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver.
The band had this to say about Hanneman shortly after his death, “While he had his health struggles over the years, including the recent necrotizing fasciitis infection that devastated his well-being, Jeff and those close to him were not aware of the true extent of his liver condition until the last days of his life,”
It is so tragic in the sense that something like this could have been avoided if it were not for his extreme drinking. Hanneman’s music will live on forever in the music of Slayer.
R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman 1964-2013
