Biography
Hanneman was born January 31, 1964 in Oakland, California and grew up in Long Beach, California, in a family containing several war veterans: his father fought in Normandy during World War II and his brothers in Vietnam; so warfare was a common conversation topic at the dinner table. War films were popular on TV at the time, and Hanneman often joined his brothers in constructing and coloring tank and plane models. His interest in warfare and military history is attributed to his upbringing. In a 2009 interview with Decibel Magazine, he states his father is German, but fought for the allied side in World War II. In the same interview, he also goes into detail of what district of Germany his father and grandparents hail from. His grandfather was fluent in German.
Hanneman approached Kerry King in 1981, when King was auditioning for a band. After the try-out session, the two guitarists started talking and playing Iron Maiden and Judas Priest songs. Slayer was born when Hanneman asked "Why don't we start our own band?", to which King replied "...Fuck yeah!". In 1984, Hanneman, Dave Lombardo and Suicidal Tendencies's guitarist Rocky George had a brief punk side project called "Pap Smear" - the band was due to start recording when Hanneman was advised to avoid the side project by Slayer's producer, Rick Rubin, who is quoted as saying "Ahhhh, don’t do it, man — this is the kind of thing that breaks bands up!" Hanneman took Rubin's advice, and later used two of the songs on Slayer's 1996 album Undisputed Attitude.
In 1997 Hanneman married Kathryn, whom he had met in the early 1980s. The couple have no children and live in Los Angeles, forty minutes away from King. Kathryn stays at home when Slayer tours; Hanneman claims to prefer this, saying that when he comes home, she is "all brand new again". Kathryn has toured with the band twice in twenty years.
Hanneman and Slayer vocalist/bassist Tom Araya are reformed cocaine and pill abusers. They decided to quit when they realised "this can lead to only death or something, this is going too far". Hanneman is a long-time fan of the Oakland Raiders.
In early 2011, Hanneman contracted necrotizing fasciitis. According to the band, doctors say that it likely originated from a spider bite. In the light of this situation and Slayer's upcoming participation in the Australian Soundwave Festival tour that was set to kick off on February 26, the band made the tough decision to play the dates without Hanneman, and on February 16, 2011 brought on Gary Holt (guitarist of the band Exodus) to fill in for him until he has fully recuperated and is ready to return to the lineup. Pat O'Brien joined as Slayer's temporary second guitarist when Holt left the tour to play with Exodus.
Read more about this topic: Jeff Hanneman
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