Five years after their farewell tour, Slayer announced their reunion in 2024, with shows that until now will happen at famous festivals in the United States.
The band will have the same line-up they had for the past 11 years with the two founding members Tom Araya (Bass and vocals) and Kerry King (Guitar). They are accompanied by Gary Holt (Guitar) and Paul Bostaph (Drums).
But why the drummer and founding member of the band Dave Lombardo will not rejoin the band the reunion?
Why Dave Lombardo won’t be part of the Slayer 2024 reunion
Well, he won’t be part of the reunion because since he was fired in 2013 he no longer has a good relationship with his ex-bandmates. The drummer was a fundamental part of the success of Slayer and a huge influence to Metal drummers. He was even the one who designed the famous logotype of the group in the early 80s.
He had been in and out of the band many times during their career, being a member of the group from 1981 to 1986 and then from 1987 to 1992. It took him nine years to rejoin the band again in 2001. But he stayed as a member until 2013 when his bandmate Jeff Janneman sadly passed away.
At the time he was fired from the group after disagreements regarding the band’s management. They continued with Paul Bostaph and even recorded a new and final album which was “Repentless” released in 2015.
Kerry King said that Lombardo is dead to him
In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2024, Kerry King was asked about the possibility of Lombardo joining the group for the reunion. But he answered saying: “No. Lombardo is dead to me.”
“He went on that tirade when we were on a flight to Australia. He knew we couldn’t retort for 14 hours, and he threw me under the bus. I was the only one keeping him in the band. Tom wanted him out before that, and Jeff had just gotten the spider bite. So he wasn’t playing with us much. I said, ‘We need (Dave). The fans won’t get it if we replace him right now’.”
“And then the Australia thing came up. He threw me under the bus. I’m like, ‘I’m the guy that kept you here.’ So I thought, ‘Fuck that guy,'” Kerry King said.
During the same conversation, King said that Lombardo was listening to his attorney at the moment, who was making him believe they had “Metallica money” and he wasn’t receiving the amount he should. According to the guitarist, Slayer never made a huge amount of money that could be compared to what Metallica made.
Of course, Lombardo’s version to it was different but in 2022 he said he would be open to do a reunion. However, he also said that he believed that would never happen. Since then he had been a member of several bands like Suicidal Tendencies, Misfits, Testament and Mr. Bungle.