A memorial service for late Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman is being held and is open to the public on May 23rd. Â The band announced on their Facebook page that it will be held at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The service will be open on a first-come, first-in basis, and is free for all. The venue fills about 4,000 people.Â
“Jeff Hanneman helped shape Slayer’s uncompromising thrash-metal sound as well as an entire genre of music,” said the announcement on Facebook.
“For more than 30 years, Hanneman was the band member who stayed out of the spotlight, rarely did interviews, amassed an impressive collection of World War II memorabilia, was with his wife Kathy for nearly three decades, shut off his phone and went incommunicado when he was home from tour, did not want to be on the road too late into any December as Christmas was his favorite holiday, and, from the time he was about 12 years old, woke up every, single day with one thing on his mind: playing the guitar.”
Hanneman passed away on May 2nd from alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver. He had been on sick leave from Slayer since 2011 after dealing with a separate health issue, necrotizing fasciitis, and his liver problem, according to the band, only became known in his final days.
In a statement released on their website, Slayer bassist Tom Araya said, “Jeff was a lifeline of Slayer, he wrote so many of the songs that the band will always be known for. He had a good heart, he was a good guy.”
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