Jeff Hanneman, RIP

JEFF HANNEMAN, founding guitarist of metal band Slayer, has died, the band reported via its website; he was 49. The Long Beach native, who co-founded the group in the early '80s, died at his home Thursday morning of liver failure after a long illness--apparently brought on by a spider bite he suffered more than a year earlier. The band, declaring that its surviving members were "devastated," retraced some of Hanneman's medical struggles online: “After he went to the ER, things were touch-and-go. There was talk that he might have to have his arm amputated, and we didn't know if he was going to pull through at all. He was in a medically-induced coma for a few days and had several operations to remove the dead and dying tissue from his arm. So, understand, he was in really, really bad shape.” Hanneman is survived by his wife, Kathy, his sister, Kathy, and brothers Michael and Larry. (5/2p)