Photo: Victoria Morse / CC BY-SA 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Jeff Hanneman was, without question, the dark heart of Slayer — and I say that with nothing but reverence. While both he and Kerry King were ferocious players, Hanneman brought something extra to the table: the riff architecture that made songs like Raining Blood and Angel of Death feel genuinely terrifying rather than just fast. He drew on hardcore punk just as much as metal, and that cross-contamination gave Slayer's best work a raw, desperate edge that nobody else in thrash ever quite matched. He penned the lyrics to Angel of Death too, which sparked controversy the band lived with for decades, but the song stands as one of the most unflinching pieces of extreme music ever committed to tape. Losing him in 2013 — from liver failure after complications from a spider bite, of all things — felt wrong in a way that still stings. The genre lost a founding architect, and no one filled that space.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Jeff Hanneman
- Name (Japanese)
- ジェフ・ハンネマン
- Reading
- じぇふ・はんねまん
- Born
- January 31, 1964 – May 2, 2013
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aquarius / Dragon
- Origin
- Oakland, California, United States
- Occupation
- guitarist / songwriter / composer / musician
2. Background
- High school
- Jordan High School
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Jeff Hanneman born?
January 31, 1964 – May 2, 2013.
Where is Jeff Hanneman from?
Jeff Hanneman is from Oakland, California, United States.
What does Jeff Hanneman do?
Jeff Hanneman works as guitarist, songwriter, composer, musician.
Guitarist — see all → · Songwriter — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.