In a new interview with Metal Injection, Kerry King addressed the surprising news of Slayer‘s reunion tour announcement, which came shortly after he told Rolling Stone a Slayer comeback wasn’t likely.
“I turned [reunion offers] down for the longest time,” Kerry said. “You can imagine we’ve been turning down offers since December 1st, 2019. And at that point, I thought, ‘No, we’re never gonna play again.’ Tom [Araya] retired. So it’s written. And then offers keep coming, offers keep coming, the money goes up. And this one came around and it was when we were booking shows from my [solo] band, and I go to my manager. I’m, like, ‘Are we talking about my band or SLAYER? What are we talking about here?’ He’s, like, ‘Slayer.’ And I’m, like, ‘Yeah, but that’s done. We hung that s**t up. I dropped the chains. Done.’ But then it started getting to where this is really gonna be the five-year anniversary of [Slayer‘s] last tour. And I went, ‘That’s kind of cool. Three shows, five-year anniversary. Okay.’ That’s about all I thought about it.”
King continued: “The funny thing about this story is I didn’t tell anybody in my [solo] band [that the Slayer reunion shows were happening],” he continued. “I’d never been in that situation. And the news dropped that we were doing three shows and everybody blows me up. I’m, like, ‘Goddamn it.’ ‘It never occurred to me to tell you guys.’ Never f**king occurred to me. It wasn’t a secret. They can keep secrets. I know that. And I felt so bad. It never occurred to me.
“Paul [Bostaph, Slayer drummer, who also plays in Kerry‘s solo band] knew, of course. But poor Phil [Demmel, guitarist in Kerry‘s solo band] and Kyle [Sanders, bassist in Kerry‘s solo band] and Mark [Osegueda, vocalist in Kerry‘s solo band], they all texted me and blew me up. I’m, like, ‘I’m so sorry, man. It never occurred to me. This is what’s up. This is what’s gonna happen. If it happens again, it’s gonna be the same thing. We’re never gonna f**king make a record. We’re never gonna f**king tour. This is my band.’”
“I’m trying to be real and definitely say, hey, we’re not gonna tour again,” he said. “And we’re certainly not gonna record again, ’cause I have a means of doing that now with my band. [We’re doing] three shows for now. And I say ‘for now’ because I know Europe’s gonna come knocking, ‘Hey, man, you guys played America. Come see us.’ So it wouldn’t surprise me if something like that happened, but it’s certainly not on my books right now.”
Taking the stage for the first time since their final world tour in November 2019, Slayer is back! The legendary thrash band, featuring Tom Araya on bass and vocals, Kerry King and Gary Holt on guitars, and Paul Bostaph on drums, will headline three major festivals: Riot Fest, Louder Than Life, and Aftershock.
