Jeff Hanneman slayer

Jeffery John "Jeff" Hanneman (born January 31, 1964) is a guitarist and a founding member of the American thrash metal band Slayer. Hanneman grew up in Los Angeles in a family of war veterans, and his fascination with warfare is attributed to his upbringing. His interest in the subject of war pertains to much of his lyrical material including the song "Angel of Death".

Influenced by punk music growing up, Hanneman stated that the genre influenced Slayer's sound to make and create a faster and more aggressive approach. Hanneman has contributed both lyrical and musical material to every Slayer album and wrote the songs "Raining Blood", "War Ensemble", "Seasons in the Abyss" and "Angel of Death", which are played at almost every live Slayer show. He has his own signature guitar, the ESP Jeff Hanneman Signature model.


Hanneman was born in Oakland 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.

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 King asked "Why don't we start our own band?", to which Hanneman replied "...Fuck yeah!". In 1982, Hanneman, Dave Lombardo and Suicidal Tendencies's guitarist Rocky George had a brief punk side project called "Pap Smear" - the band 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's "all brand new again". Kathryn has toured with the band twice in twenty years.

Hanneman and Slayer vocalist 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". Both Araya and Hanneman restrict themselves to drinking beer. Hanneman's favorite brand is Heineken lager; he can often be seen with the drink backstage and in publicity photos. During The Unholy Alliance Chapter II tour, Hanneman was seen playing a guitar with a Heineken logo, but it says Hanneman instead of Heineken as a custom finish. In the new issue of Guitar World, Hanneman can be seen with a newer version of his Heineken logo guitar, with death head Nazi emblem between the two laurels.