“It’s probably the hardest conversation I have had in my life.”

Kerry King looked back on the final years of his Slayer bandmate Jeff Hanneman, explaining why he didn’t want the guitarist to play more than two songs at the iconic Big Four event.As the man behind genre-defining classics such as “Angel of Death” and “Raining Blood”, Jeff Hanneman was easily one of the best-loved and most esteemed musicians in all of metal. As such, both fans and his bandmates were struck by the news of Hanneman contracting necrotizing fasciitis, reportedly due to a spider bite, while his passing two years later was felt as an insurmountable loss for many.

“It’s probably the hardest conversation in my life”

After his diagnosis, Hanneman’s boots would be filled by Gary Holt of Exodus and Pat O’Brien of Cannibal Corpse, although the Slayer guitarist & co-founder did manage a triumphant comeback for the historic Big Four event staged by Metallica, where he performed “South Of Heaven” and “Angel of Death.” Asked in a recent interview with Rolling Stone whether having to soldier on without Hanneman was difficult, King said:

“We always assumed that he’d be able to come back and hopefully join us for more than just the f***ing Big Four show he did. But that didn’t pan out.”

“I think the last year he toured with us was 2010. He wanted to come back. And I told him, ‘If you’re not a hundred percent, people are going to know immediately.'”

As King recalls, Hanneman was excited to play at the upcoming Big Four event, and had prepared for a 4-song performance. The conversation during which King persuaded his bandmate to limit his performance to two songs was “the hardest” he’s ever had, he says:

“We had that conversation before the Big Four when he came back. He’d learned four songs. I talked to Tom [Araya] about it, and I said, ‘Listen, it’s in our best interest and Jeff’s best interest to play two songs because people are going to be so stoked to see him, they’re not going to hear him play anything.'”

“So I went to Jeff with this, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, but I learned four songs.’ I said, ‘You are going to be excited, so you’re going to be extra intense, and by the third song, people are going to start realizing that you’re not playing at a hundred percent.'”

“It’s probably the hardest conversation I have had in my life. I said, ‘That’s how it is, man. I’m doing you a favor.’ And in hindsight, no one ever had anything bad to say about that show because they never had a chance to.”

Jeff Hanneman died on May 2, 2013, aged 49. Reflecting on his friend and bandmate’s tragic passing now, King said:

“I knew he was in the hospital. I knew he was in bad shape, but I didn’t know it was that bad. I was rehearsing with Paul for whatever we were doing, and [my manager] called me one day and said, ‘We lost Jeff.’ I’m like, ‘I didn’t see that coming.'”

“I thought there would be a point. I mean, he lived only an hour from me, in a direction I never go — which that’s no excuse. But you just don’t know until that finality comes and you’re like, ‘Motherf***er. I wish I went there yesterday.’ But it didn’t happen.”