Jeff Hanneman Dies
Slayer guitarist and founding member passes away at 49.
Hanneman died of liver failure in California on Thursday. The guitarist had been suffering from necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease believed to have been contracted from a spider bite.
A statement left on the official Slayer website read:
Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California home. 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.
Our Brother Jeff Hanneman, May He Rest In Peace (1964 - 2013)
Â
A statement was also released from the Recording Academy, describing Hanneman as "an intense and powerful guitarist and a force to be reckoned with on stage".
Slayer are well known for being one of the "big four" metal groups of the eighties, alongside Anthrax, Megadeth and Metallica.