A public memorial event for Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman has been set for Thursday, May 23, at the Hollywood Palladium, which has a capacity of about 4,000. Fans are invited to the event, which is free, on a “first-come, first-in” basis, according the band.

Hanneman died May 2 of alcohol-related cirrhosis. He was 49.

The guitarist helped shape Slayer’s uncompromising thrash-metal sound as well as an entire genre of music. His riffs were heard in the songs he wrote, including “Angel of Death,” “Raining Blood,” “South of Heaven” and “War Ensemble.”

Hanneman co-founded Slayer with fellow-guitarist Kerry King, bassist Tom Araya and drummer Dave Lombardo in Huntington Park, California, in 1981. For more than 30 years, Hanneman was the band member who stayed out of the spotlight, rarely did interviews, amassed an impressive collection of World War II memorabilia, was with his wife Kathy for nearly three decades, shut off his phone and went incommunicado when he was home from tour, did not want to be on the road too late into any December as Christmas was his favorite holiday, and, from the time he was about 12 years old, woke up every, single day with one thing on his mind: playing the guitar.

It was once suggested to Slayer that if they would write “just one mainstream song that could get on the radio,” they would likely sell millions of records and change the commercial course of their career, similar to what had happened to Metallica with 1993′s “Enter Sandman.” Jeff was the first to draw a line of integrity in the sand, replying, “We’re going to make a Slayer record. If you can get it on the radio, fine, if not, then fuck it.”

The event will take place 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. All ages are welcome, and paid parking will be available around the venue.

Today, exactly a week after Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman died of liver failure at age 49, the band posted an update on the facts surrounding the guitarist’s death.

The statement revealed Hanneman’s official cause of death: alcohol-related cirrhosis, an irreversible scarring of the liver.

“While he had his health struggles over the years, including the recent necrotizing fasciitis infection that devastated his well-being, Jeff and those close to him were not aware of the true extent of his liver condition until the last days of his life,” reads the statement.

“Contrary to some reports, Jeff was not on a transplant list at the time of his passing, or at any time prior to that. In fact, by all accounts, it appeared that he had been improving. He was excited and looking forward to working on a new record.”

In the same press release, Slayer announced that a public memorial in Hanneman’s honor will take place at a still-to-be-determined date and location.

Here is the remainder of the message on the band’s website:

“While the details are being worked out now, Slayer wants its fans to know that there will be a celebration of Jeff Hanneman’s life sometime later this month, along with Jeff’s family and friends, the public will be invited to attend. More information will be posted here [futureusgalleryslayer.net] soon.

“Kerry King and Tom Araya are trying to deal with the loss of their brother by remembering some the good times they shared.

“KERRY: “I had so many great times with Jeff…in the early days when we were out on the road, he and I were the night owls, we would stay up all night on the bus, just hanging out, talking, watching movies…World War II movies, horror movies, we watched Full Metal Jacket so many times, we could practically recite all of the dialogue.”

“TOM: “When we first formed Slayer, we used to rehearse all the time, religiously, 24/7. Jeff and I spent a lot of time hanging out together, he lived in my father’s garage which was also our rehearsal space. When he got his own apartment, he had an 8-track and I would go there to record songs I’d written, not Slayer songs, other stuff I’d written. At a certain point, you still have the band but you start your own lives outside of the band, so that 24/7 falls to the side, you don’t spend as much time together as you once did. I miss those early days.”

“KERRY: “He was a gigantic World War II buff, his father served in that war, so when Slayer played Russia for the first time – I think it was 1998 – Jeff and I went to one of Moscow’s military museums. I’ll never forget him walking around that place, looking at all of the tanks, weapons and other exhibits. He was like a kid on Christmas morning. But that was Jeff’s thing, he knew so much about WW II history, he could have taught it in school.”

“TOM: “We were in New York recording South of Heaven. Jeff and I were at the hotel and we had to get to the studio – I think it was called Chung King, a real rundown place. So we left the hotel and decided to walk, but then it started raining. We walked maybe five blocks, and it was raining so hard, we were totally soaked, so we decided to get a cab. Here we are, two dudes with long hair and leather jackets, absolutely soaked, thumbing to the studio. No one would stop. We had to walk the entire way. Jeff was a lifeline of Slayer, he wrote so many of the songs that the band will always be known for. He had a good heart, he was a good guy.”

An untold number of heavy metal artists and fans, many of whom are at Club Nokia in Los Angeles for tonight’s 5th Annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards, instantly expressed their grief over Hanneman’s death via Twitter. As a tribute to the late guitarist, who died May 2, 2013, of liver failure, tonight’s Golden Gods show is dedicated to Hanneman.

Here are several tweets, with more on the way:

ZAKK WYLDE: RIP brother. You will be missed.

DAVE MUSTAINE: Tonight one less star will be shining and sadly, the stage got just a little bit darker. Jeff Hanneman 1964-2013.

MACHINE HEAD: RIP Jeff Hanneman. One of the greatest songwriters in all of metal let alone music. Our hearts go out to his family and band mates.

SEYMOUR DUNCAN: A member of the Big Four has passed away. Horns up for Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman

NIKKI SIXX: Just heard the sad news about Jeff Hanneman of Slayer. My condolences to his family,the band and all his friends and fans..RIP

DEATH ANGEL: R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman. Love & respect to the Slayer family.

DAVID ELLEFSON: My condolences to Slayer and Jeff Hanneman’s family today.

RANCID: Our heart goes out Jeff Hanneman’s friends and family. You will be missed man.

SLASH: Tragic & shocking news about Jeff Hanneman. He is going to missed by so many. What a sad day for Metal. RIP man.

GIBSON GUITAR: RIP Jeff Hanneman. You will be greatly missed.

ALEX SKOLNICK: Sad news. RIP JH. He’ll be remembered at #GoldenGods

TESTAMENT: R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman, brother in thrash.

HATEBREED: Rest In Peace Jeff Hanneman! A True Heavy Metal LEGEND!

DINO CAZARES: I’m extremely shocked and sad to hear about Jeff Hanneman. He was a huge influence on my playing when I was growing up.

CHIMAIRA: RIP Jeff Hanneman. Icon

GUS G.: Gutted to read the news. RIP Jeff Hanneman the music world has lost yet another one of the greats

ROBERT CAGGIANO: Wow… I just heard some really sad news . R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman

MIKE PORTNOY: WOW….I’m in shock…RIP Jeff Hanneman….wow….

JOSE MANGIN: Crushed out here in Cali about untimely passing of Jeff Hanneman @Slayer, the #goldengods will be dedicated to Jeff & his legendary riffs!

IN FLAMES: We are so devasted to hear about the passing of Jeff Hanneman. One of the greatest have passed on and please,…

EDDIE TRUNK: Tragic news of @Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman passing away

DUFF McKAGAN: Jeff Hanneman of @Slayer RIP. Wow. I’m so very sorry for your loss Hanneman family.

Only two years after contracting an extremely rare skin disease, Slayer guitarist and co-founder Jeff Hanneman died Thursday, May 2, of liver failure at a Southern California hospital.

Slayer announced the news Thursday afternoon by posting this statement on the band’s website, Facebook page and Twitter feed:

“Slayer is devastated to inform [futureusgalleryyou] that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11 a.m. 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, an extremely gifted thrash guitarist, has appeared on the cover of Guitar World magazine and was voted one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by Guitar World readers in 2012. In our Greatest Guitarists readers poll, he earned the No. 85 spot, just ahead of Peter Frampton.

Hanneman hasn’t toured with Slayer since early 2011, when he contracted necrotizing fasciitis from a spider bite. Exodus’ Gary Holt stood in for Hanneman starting that February. Pat O’Brien joined the band when Holt returned to Exodus in 2011.

After not appearing live with the band since October 2010, Hanneman joined Slayer at a Big 4 concert in Indio, California, in April 2011. He surprised the crowd of 50,000 when he walked onto the stage unannounced and played “South of Heaven” and “Angel of Death.” Backstage in Slayer’s dressing room, Hanneman relaxed on a couch and said, “I’m the happiest man in the world.”

In 2011, Slayer updated fans about Hanneman’s health:

“As you know, Jeff was bitten by a spider more than a year ago, but what you may not have known was that for a couple of days 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. It’s been about a year since he got out of the hospital, and since then, he had to learn to walk again, he’s had several painful skin grafts, he’s been in rehab doing exercises to regain the strength in his arm; but best of all, he’s been playing guitar.”

Hanneman was born January 31, 1964, in Oakland, California, and acquired a Gibson Les Paul as a teenager after saving $500.

“Two months after that [futureusgalleryin 1981], I met Kerry [futureusgalleryKing], and that’s how Slayer got started,” Hanneman told Guitar World. “I worked in an office building at the time, and this other band practiced in one of the rooms. After work, I’d go hang out with those guys and play, just to learn the instrument. Kerry was actually trying out for that band, but we were more in tune with one another, musically speaking, so we decided to start a group. He also played with Tom [futureusgalleryAraya] in another band, and he knew a drummer that lived on his block. So it all just fell together.”

In 1984, Hanneman, Dave Lombardo and Suicidal Tendencies’ guitarist, Rocky George, had a brief punk side project called Pap Smear. The band was due to start recording when Hanneman was advised to avoid the side project by Slayer’s producer, Rick Rubin. Hanneman took Rubin’s advice, eventually using two songs from the project on Slayer’s 1996 album, Undisputed Attitude.

Hanneman and King perfected a twin-lead guitar style that pushed the band to the head of the thrash metal movement of the early ’80s. They have been crowned as one of thrash metal’s “Big Four,” along with Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth.

Hanneman had performed on every Slayer release and wrote many of the band’s best-known songs, including “Angel of Death” and “South of Heaven.” His compositions have been recorded by Hatebreed, Children of Bodom, Hellsongs and Cradle of Filth and sampled by Styles-P.

Funeral arrangements are still pending.

Reaction from the rock and metal world

Heavy metal Artists and fans, many of whom were gathered at Club Nokia in Los Angeles for the 5th annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards, expressed their grief over Hanneman’s death via Twitter. The Golden Gods show was dedicated to Hanneman.

Here are some tweets; for more reactions from artists and gear manufacturers, head here.

SLASH: Tragic & shocking news about Jeff Hanneman. He is going to missed by so many. What a sad day for Metal. RIP man.

ALEX SKOLNICK: Sad news. RIP JH. He’ll be remembered at #GoldenGods

TESTAMENT: R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman, brother in thrash.

HATEBREED: Rest In Peace Jeff Hanneman! A True Heavy Metal LEGEND!

DINO CAZARES: I’m extremely shocked and sad to hear about Jeff Hanneman. He was a huge influence on my playing when I was growing up.

CHIMAIRA: RIP Jeff Hanneman. Icon

GUS G.: Gutted to read the news. RIP Jeff Hanneman the music world has lost yet another one of the greats

ROBERT CAGGIANO: Wow… I just heard some really sad news . R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman

MIKE PORTNOY: WOW….I’m in shock…RIP Jeff Hanneman….wow….

JOSE MANGIN: Crushed out here in Cali about untimely passing of Jeff Hanneman @Slayer, the #goldengods will be dedicated to Jeff & his legendary riffs!

IN FLAMES: We are so devasted to hear about the passing of Jeff Hanneman. One of the greatest have passed on and please,…

EDDIE TRUNK: Tragic news of @Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman passing away

DUFF McKAGAN: Jeff Hanneman of @Slayer RIP. Wow. I’m so very sorry for your loss Hanneman family.

“Slayer is writing a new record. Jeff is still recovering and doing better,” Lombardo’s post read.

Since Hanneman contacted the infection, Exodus guitarist Gary Holt has been filling in, including during Slayer’s performance at the Bog Four show at New York City’s Yankee Stadium in September.

To read the full article, click here.

Here at Revolvermag.com we are also marking this special day, with several features looking back at the classic album. Click here to read an interview with fellow Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman discussing what for many is the standout track on the record, “Raining Blood.” If that’s not enough Slayer-love for you, click here to register your vote for your favorite song off Reign in Blood.

In case you have yet to get your hands on them, you can still purchase Revolver‘s The Book of Slayer, dedicated to the thrash legends, as well as our Big Four Special Collector’s Issue.

REVOLVER What do you remember about writing the main riff to “Raining Blood”?
JEFF HANNEMAN I just remember when I came up with it, I thought, This is pretty good. I instantly grabbed my little mini-recorder or whatever I had at that time and recorded it so I wouldn’t forget it. I had no idea that the fans would react to it as much as they do. Still, to this day, when we play that song, they go nuts. It’s just unbelievable.

At concerts, you know the drum buildup before we start playing that riff? It’s almost like an eerie calm going on in the audience. But once it starts, when we start playing that riff, they fucking go crazy. I think its success is that it’s so simplistic. It just sticks in your head. It embeds itself in your brain, and you sing it in your head all day and the only cure is to play the song again. Kids go nuts for that song.

Like I said, I knew it had something that was really eerie about it or whatever, but I didn’t’ know it was going to be as big as it was. In fact, I played it for Kerry on my little 8-track, and Kerry

What did the other guys think of it?
Fuckin’ Dave loved it. Tom loved it. Kerry was the only one that was like, “Huh, what?” Of course he loves it now.

Do you remember how it sounded in demo form?
I came up with the riff and I had some stuff to go after it. Not what is actually on the song now, but I did the whole buildup. The whole “bomp bomp bomp” and the eerie guitar sounds, and I put it down on my little 8-track with my drum machine. And I thought it sounded great.

What else do you remember about writing the song?
I pretty much started the lyrics and I hit a roadblock and I think Kerry finished them up. Then I came back and did the ending part. The whole “Raining Blood.” That part. But it pretty much came together easy. It’s a short song.

What were your musical influences around that time?
I think pretty much punk. I think those were still my big punk days. Wasted Youth, T.S.O.L., Minor Threat.

How did your producer, Rick Rubin, react to it?
I think on that song he just said, “It’s done. It’s perfect.” That’s pretty much how Rubin works. It’s either, “Oh, this sucks.” Or “It’s perfect.” Then he’ll throw in his two cents. Our big thing is we’ll either listen to him or if we think it’s dumb, it’s dumb, and we won’t do it. But his big contribution to that album was the sound. That was the first time we ever sounded that in-your-face. The past records were all a lot of reverb, too much reverb.

We didn’t know exactly what we wanted. But looking back it’s like I don’t know why we even put up with that much reverb. But we were kids. And Rubin just said, “Fuck the reverb,” and said, “Let’s just put it straight.” Like it would be, I guess, live or whatever. After that we were like, “Yeah, let’s keep it this way.”

Have you ever gotten sick of playing “Raining Blood”?
Not really, because it’s a great song. It’s short and the kids go nuts. Every night when we play it, once the kids go off like they do, it gives you goose bumps. You go off. It’s still fun to play.

How do you feel about how it has been embraced in the sports world?
Yeah. I finally heard it, God, they played it in a hockey arena. I couldn’t believe that. I love hockey, and I go to a lot of the games. And I was like, Why don’t they ever play Slayer? And then they finally played “Raining Blood,” and I was like, “Yes!”

What did you think of Tori Amos’ cover of “Raining Blood”?
I would have to say her version was the most original. Is this our song? It’s like why would you even do that song? Something about the rag? I don’t know. She just asked if it was OK, and we said, OK, knock yourself out. And that was the end of it. The only cool thing about it is, I guess because she did that song, we were playing over in Europe and we were really late and we were going on before her. We were super late and she just said, “No problem.” We got there late, our flight was late or whatever, and she said, “No problem. Play your whole set.” Like, Wow. I thought she was gonna be a bitch.

What do you think of how some people use that riff as their ringtone?
Yeah. That’s pretty cool. I actually would think that would be goofy, but that is pretty cool.

Did the success of that riff intimidate you as a band in any way when you were writing your next album, South of Heaven?
It was just like, we’re not going to be able to top that whole album. We’re not going to be able to beat that. That’s why we did South of Heaven and Seasons, we just kind of mellowed out a little bit. Not mellow, but slowed down. Maybe this new album will be… I don’t think anything can beat Reign in Blood. [futureusgalleryLaughs] Who am I kidding?

The Big Four of thrash—Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax—are set to play New York City’s Yankee Stadium on September 14. It will be the second time ever that all four groups have shared a stage in the United States. To mark this occasion, Revolver and Guitar World are celebrating the event with the Big Four Weeks leading up to the event. For the next month or so, leading up to the show, our websites will be giving fans eye-popping exclusives (like the Big Four trading cards from the September/October issue, which we unveiled last week), previously unseen backstage video, and excerpts from our interviews with the bands on a regular basis.

This installment is an excerpt from Revolver’s special issue devoted to the Big Four, which you can buy right here. This section recounts how Metallica burst into superstardom and what continued to unite the four bands after that. The excerpt features interviews with Anthrax’s Charlie Benantie, Slayer’s Kerry King and Tom Araya, and Metallica’s Lars Ulrich. So, without further ado, here is the inside story.

REVOLVER Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax toured together on the Clash of the Titans tour in 1991. Up until last year, that was the closest people got to seeing the Big Four together.
CHARLIE BENANTE Throughout the ’80s, the Big Four title remained with all the bands. And then somewhere in the ’90s, one of the Big Four became huge. There was really no more Big Four. It was like your older brother went to college and became Bill Gates. “Make sure you write sometimes please.” And that was it. No longer was there really the Big Four. Metallica was this thing unto itself. They were this huge entity.

When you have a record like the “Black Album,” when something is like Back in Black or Dark Side of the Moon, that’s it. That’s it, you know, goodbye. You don’t need anything else. You’re set. So while all of us still had success, you know, I guess that time was done.

KERRY KING I think we rose to prominence at the same time. And three of us were on Clash of the Titans—Metallica didn’t need us. They don’t need us now. I think it’s just the cool factor of the four bands going together. It’s real similar to ’91, when we did Clash of the Titans, ’cause I remember the three of us joined together, and I knew Metallica wouldn’t be a part of it ’cause they didn’t need us. They’re on the “Black Record,” man, they were jettisoning themselves to superstardom. And now, they’re still superstars and the three of us can band together like we did on the first U.S. run, but I think the cool factor of all four being together is the enticing thing.

What is it that you feel unifies the bands as the Big Four? Just growing up together at the same time?
LARS ULRICH Growing up together­—that’s a lot. That’s a lot to begin with. I think that obviously. Also, it never really dawned upon me, and I think it was Mustaine who said at some point last year that it may just be that these four bands are four of the biggest of the latter-day hard-rock bands coming out of America. In terms of the real hard-rock stuff. I never really thought of it as an American thing, but I think he’s right about that.

KING Yeah, I remember Mustaine saying something like, “We’re the four biggest metal bands from the U.S.” I never even considered that. And I went, Wow, that’s pretty cool. I’d throw Pantera in there, too. But just even to be in that statement, I kind of read it and went, No shit.

We’re pretty unassuming guys, the crew I roll with. We don’t think of our legacy. I only think about stuff like this when journalists and people bring it up. And it’s the same kind of thing, when Dave made that statement. It was like, Wow, I never thought of that. It’s really cool.

TOM ARAYA One thing that unifies us is we’re a lot like our fans. As people, we’re fans of the music as it is. I know I’m in Slayer, but I’m a big fan of the band Slayer. Whenever we work on new material I always have to take a step back and listen to it as a fan and go, like, Wow this is fucking awesome. That’s something that we’ve always done. It would be safe to assume that all four bands do that. That they sit there and they listen, and they think, OK, you know, I’m a fan. You have to like what you do, and if you’re a true fan, you’re always gonna be on the mark ’cause you’re a fan just like all your fans.

ULRICH Obviously, we all come in one way or another from the same musical seeds, the generation before us—the Judas Priests, and the Iron Maidens, and the Motörheads, and the Saxons and so on. They were a group of bands. We were the next round of bands that certainly had one thing in common: that we were all influenced and inspired by the Judas Priests, the Iron Maidens, the Motörheads, the Saxons, the Diamond Heads, the list goes on obviously. So that’s all. And obviously we had a lot of crossover. We were playing shows with Slayer back in ’82 in L.A. Megadeth came out of the whole thing that happened with Metallica in ’83, and Anthrax kind of became our partners in crime and our brothers in arms when we were out in New York. We all came from the same seeds.

To read the rest, get Revolver Presents: The Big Four right here.

Ian, Mustaine, and Araya Pic: Neil Zlozower
Slayer in 1990: M. Temme

GUITAR WORLD How were you approached initially about filling in for Jeff? Was your reaction an immediate “yes” or did you take time to think about it?
GARY HOLT Kerry called me right after we returned from the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise and told me what was up and asked if I was down. I said sure, told him I had a gig in Chile with Iron Maiden that I couldn’t miss, and they’d have to get someone else for the last few shows, and we went from there. I planned on taking it easy anyway this year, select gigs and song writing. Year’s been a bit busier than I thought it was going to be, but it’s been awesome.

Were you invited to take part in the Big Four “jam” at the Indio show? If so, was there a reason you didn’t take part? Have you taken part in one since?
I could have, but I had my fiancee and two of my daughters there, and I was just kind of hanging with friends and stuff, so I skipped that one, but it was awesome when we did do the jam in the end.