Slayer guitarist and thrash metal legend Jeff Hanneman has been forced to sit out the groups' upcoming trip to Australia for the annual Soundwave Festival Tour. Jeff was hospitalized in late January when he underwent emergency surgery for a serious infection in his right arm. The initial diagnosis was necrotizing fasciitis, more commonly known as flesh-eating bacteria syndrome. Jeff is at home recovering and is undergoing treatment, including skin grafts. He is expected to make a full-recovery. He will however, miss all five dates of the already partially sold-out tour that is slated to hit every major Australian city. No word as yet if he will be recovered in time to be able to play The Big Four Show, April 23rd in Indio, California.
Slayer made the decision to do the shows without Jeff rather than cancel the tour together. They are in the process of recruiting a fill-in guitarist until Jeff is ready to perform again. The band released a statement from the explaining the decision:
“Jeff is our brother, we've all been friends and together as a band for almost 30 years, so we want him to completely recover as soon as possible.” said Tom Araya of Hannemen.
Added Kerry King: “After everything that happened last year we all agreed that we just can't let our fans down again. Jeff is totally on board with this decision, so he'll be back as soon as he possibly can. And we can't wait for Jeff to get better and get his ass back on the road.”.
King was of course referring to the last few years which saw Slayer postpone and cancel several tours due to health concerns, mostly due to Tom Araya's ongoing neck and back problems.
All of us here at the Vulgar Display of Blog wish Jeff a speedy recovery.
Very very very interesting. Makes me wonder if they'll get a guitar tech or some no-name to fill in or go with a big star.
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