AN UPDATE ON THE HEALTH OF SLAYER’S JEFF HANNEMAN; GARY HOLT WILL FILL IN ON EUROPEAN TOUR

It’s been fourteen months since Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman suffered a near-fatal spider bite that has by and large kept him sidelined ever since — but it seems that the original injury was actually far, far worse than the band ever let on (and they let on that it was pretty bad). Now, in a statement posted on their official website, the band has clued fans in to just how terrible the situation was for Hanneman, and announced that he’ll be sitting out their upcoming European tour, with Exodus’ Gary Holt once again filling in.

Here’s the complete statement from Slayer:

“Slayer fans everywhere – it’s time to let you know what is going on with our brother Jeff Hanneman.

“As you know, Jeff was bitten by a spider more than a year ago, but what you may not have known was that for a couple of days after he went to the ER, things were touch-and-go. There was talk that he might have to have his arm amputated, and we didn’t know if he was going to pull through at all. He was in a medically-induced coma for a few days and had several operations to remove the dead and dying tissue from his arm. So, understand, he was in really, really bad shape. It’s been about a year since he got out of the hospital, and since then, he had to learn to walk again, he’s had several painful skin grafts, he’s been in rehab doing exercises to regain the strength in his arm; but best of all, he’s been playing guitar. We were all excited when he joined us onstage for the encore a year ago at The Big Four show at Coachella. Since then, we’ve given him all the time and support he’s needed to continue his rehab so he can come back to the band fully recovered and able to deliver the kind of shows we all want him to. While Jeff’s been doing some writing and has been coming to rehearsal over the past several weeks, he has decided he needs to take more time to continue his rehab. While we want him back onstage with the band, all of us support his decision. So, we’re very grateful that Gary Holt will continue to fill in for Jeff, and will tour with us until Jeff completes his rehab and is ready to return. How long will that be? The best and most honest answer we can give you is ‘as long as it takes.’ We also wanted you to know that we’ve been doing some writing and recording for the next Slayer album – we’ve tracked a few songs, and will finish the album when we’re off the road later this year. Gary will join us on tour in Europe and the UK in May and June, and then we’ll all see you on this Summer’s Mayhem Festival.”

Holy shit — like I said, the situation was even scarier than we already thought it was. Of course, we continue to hope for Hanneman to have the speediest possible recovery, and plan to sacrifice a goat to Satan in his honor.

As for European fans who are disappointed they won’t get to see this key founding member play with the band, they should rest assured — we saw Holt play with Slayer at the Big Four concert in the Bronx last year, and Holt was (not shocking) a terrific replacement.

And hopefully Hanneman will finally be back with the band full time when Mayhem kicks off at the end of June. You can get dates for that tour here.

-AR

Thanks to Tom for the tip.