Founding Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman died Thursday at age 49 of liver failure.
“Slayer is devastated to inform that their band mate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California home. He was 49. Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure. He is survived by his wife Kathy, his sister Kathy and his brothers Michael and Larry, and will be sorely missed.”
Hanneman had recently taken a break from touring due to liver disease, which was reported to be related to a spider bite according to one of the bandmembers. In a Facebook post, his Slayer bandmates said Hanneman had been “in really, really bad shape” since the 2010 spider bite.
Read more at the L.A. Times