Jeff Hanneman of Slayer died of "alcohol related cirrhosis", estranged member Dave Lombardo comments on his passing

Dave Lombardo & Jeff Hanneman of Slayer

From the official Slayer website

We’ve just learned that the official cause of Jeff’s death was alcohol related cirrhosis. 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. 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.

So sad to hear.

Both Tom and Kerry have dropped off eulogies at the Slayer site, and now estranged member Dave Lombardo has done so on his Facebook:

“Jeff was the guy that shaved his head and shared the music he was so inspired by. I enjoyed DEAD KENNEDYS, CIRCLE JERKS, BLACK FLAG and THE GERMS with him.

“My drumming was getting faster and Jeff was writing original songs with a punk attitude.

“The fusion of heavy metal and punk took over SLAYER’s early mediocre style, hence a new force was born.

“Thank you, Jeff, for your inspiring discovery of punk rock that has continued to shape my personal drumming style.”

RIP Jeff. Its already been a week, and the news is no less shocking.