Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Slayer’s guitarist Kerry King and his solo band played in front of an audience for the first occasion in nine months on Saturday evening (July 4) at Summerfest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as per Blabbermouth. King was the main act on the Miller Lite Oasis stage at the festival, stepping in as the headliner for Megadeth, who had to pull out of Summerfest in April, mentioning an “unexpected scheduling issue. “
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Being the youngest of three siblings, King was born and grew up in Los Angeles, California. His dad worked as an inspector for aircraft parts, while his mom was employed by a phone company. He began playing the guitar atthirteen because his father encouraged him, mentioning that his dad wanted to help him avoid bad influences andfind a hobby. King went to three different high schools and achieved great academic success, even receiving a prizefor being the best math student in his junior high. As the youngest in his family, King describes his upbringing as “spoilt. ” He learned to play guitar on his father’s Gibson ES-175 and later got a Fender Stratocaster, which he swappedfor a BC Rich Mockingbird, starting a long love for BC Rich guitars. The first song he learned was “Cat Scratch Fever” by Ted Nugent, and he quickly became a fan of Van Halen and Judas Priest, who significantly influenced his guitar skills.
King created his initial band alongside a fellow guitarist who had been giving him lessons, and this guitarist introduced him to Tom Araya. He found out that he and Araya resided just a block apart, and they decided to begin jamming together. “All started from that moment,” King has remarked about Slayer‘s beginnings. In 1981, King attended an audition for a southern rock band where Jeff Hanneman was also trying out. King noticed Hanneman playing guitar by the reception desk and went over to him, quickly discovering their shared taste in music, leading them to decide to play together. The duo loved playing together and chose to form their own band with Araya and a local drummer named Dave Lombardo, which would eventually become Slayer. King and Araya stayed in Slayer throughout the band’s entire existence, from 1981 to 2019 and since 2024.
