Jeff Hanneman Memorial Service Date Set
A public memorial celebration for late Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman will be held May 23rd at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., the band announced in a note on their Facebook page.
The celebration will be free, all ages and open to the public on a first-come, first-in basis that is subject to the venue’s capacity.
Slash, Dave Mustaine and More React to Jeff Hanneman’s Death
“For more than 30 years, Hanneman was the band member who stayed out of the spotlight,” the note read, “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 died on May 2nd as a result of alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver, according to the band. The guitarist had been on hiatus from Slayer since 2011 after contracting necrotizing fasciitis (a flesh-eating disease), possibly caused by a spider bite. His liver problems only came to light in Hanneman’s final days, the band has said.
Slayer denied rumors that Hanneman was on a transplant list, and noted that at the time of his death the guitarist’s condition seemed to be improving and that “he was excited and looking forward to working on a new record.”