AFTER MORE THAN 35 YEARS LIVING ON THE WEST COAST and pouring all of his musical energy into a single band, Slayer co-founder and guitarist Kerry King is now in a different place — literally. In 2020, King and his wife Ayesha packed up their stuff and relocated to Tribeca in New York City.
“My wife is from here,” says King from the back table of the New York Tex Mex restaurant and bar Cowgirl SeaHorse in Lower Manhattan. “She had a 20-year exile to the West Coast with me, so now it’s my turn. But I like it here, and it was good timing because we moved here during the pandemic, so I got way more for my money than I should have. I would’ve bought two places had I known that. The places in my building have gone up exponentially since then.”
Of course, moving to New York isn’t the only major change in King’s life. After wrapping up their farewell tour in 2019, Slayer, the band King co-founded in 1981, was gone. Maybe to minimize the mourning process, King formed a new band just months later and started over. And he has started over. To all intents and purposes, Slayer’s final lineup (if not their sound) is but a blip on King’s radar. Granted, it’s a big blip, and one that will likely generate more increased valuation than his Manhattan apartment when Slayer play three scheduled festival reunion shows later this year. Even so, the band’s last-standing songwriter will spend the vast majority of the foreseeable future not with Slayer, but playing live and recording new music with his new band, entitled Kerry King.
This story is from the July 2024 edition of Guitar World.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 2024 edition of Guitar World.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
DEMMEL-ITION MAN
HOW FATE (AND PERSISTENCE) LED FORMER MACHINE HEAD GUITARIST PHIL DEMMEL TO A TREASURED SPOT IN KERRY KING'S BAND
THE AXES OF A KING
KERRY KING'S JOURNEY FROM B.C. RICH TO ESP TO DEAN
The Dandy Warhols
\"SMELLY BOY ROCK\" RULES THE DAY ON THE PORTLAND ALT-ROCKERS' RIFF-DRIVEN NEW RELEASE
The Pineapple Thief
THE BAND FROM THE RURAL BACKWOODS OF SOUTH-WEST U.K. WHO TOOK THE PROG-ROCK WORLD BY STORM
DigiTech SDRUM Strummable Drums pedal
DIGITECH CALLS THE SDRUM a “strummable drums” pedal, but that’s really only a small fraction of what this powerful device can do.
MXR Joshua Ambient Echo
IT’S AMAZING HOW many players have chased after and adopted the Edge’s signature delay tone.
Sometime in February
TRISTAN AUMAN INJECTS HIS BAND'S WILDLY ADDICTIVE PROGRESSIVE METAL WITH CLEVER HOOKS, GONZO SHRED AND ARRESTING MOMENTS OF AMBIENT BEAUTY
THE 30 GREATEST GARDEN STATE GUITARISTS OF ALL TIME
New Jersey derives much of its water from New York’s Catskill Mountains. Low in calcium and magnesium, it’s a naturally soft water that’s ideally suited for bread flour. And, of course, that means it’s also a crucial component in the making of New Jersey pizza, which everybody knows is the best in the United States. (Oh, you wanna argue about it? How about this? Fuggedaboudit!)
SONG OF MYSELF
\"MILES DAVIS ONCE SAID, 'SOMETIMES IT TAKES A WHILE TO SOUND LIKE YOURSELF\"\"
KEITH SCOTT
From \"Cuts Like a Knife\" to \"Summer of '69,\" the Canadian guitar great discusses the gear and solos that have fueled Bryan Adams' music for more than 40 years