Slayer have recruited Gary Holt, the guitarist of Bay Area thrash metal band as a temporary replacement for Jeff Hanneman, who’s underwent emergency surgery after contracting necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh eating bacteria on his skin. Holt will join Tom Araya, Kerry King and Dave Lombardo at the Soundwave festival that begins this February in Australia.
“Jeff is our brother, we’ve all been friends and together as a band for almost 30 years,” said Araya, “so we just want him to completely recover as soon as possible.”
“After everything that happened last year,” King added, “we all agreed that we just can’t let our fans down again,” referring to Araya’s severe back and neck pain that prompted his January 2010 surgery, unfortunately leading to the band’s postponement or cancellation of numerous shows in 2009 and 2010. “Jeff is totally on board with this decision, so we will tour as planned. At this point, we can’t pinpoint exactly what day he’ll be back, but 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.”
We at Headbangers India wish the best to Jeff Hanneman and hope he recovers soon, as well as a successful tour for Gary Holt with Slayer!
