Jeff Hanneman

Jeffery John "Jeff" Hanneman (January 31, 1964 - May 2, 2013) was an American musician. He was most famous for being one of the founding members of the thrash metal band Slayer. He grew up in Los Angeles. His family had a military background which made Hanneman very interested in war. He expressed this interest in the words to many of the songs he has written for Slayer which are about warfare and destruction.
When he was young he liked punk rock. Hanneman said that the fast aggressive sound of punk music helped influence Slayer. Hanneman wrote both words and music for Slayer. Some of his songs include: "Raining Blood", "War Ensemble", "Seasons in the Abyss" and "Angel of Death." All of these songs are played at almost every Slayer concert. A guitar company called ESP Guitars makes a guitar which looks exactly like Hanneman's main onstage guitar and is called the "ESP Jeff Hanneman Signature Model."
Hanneman died on May 2, 2013 in Inland Empire, California, aged 49. He was staying in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure.