Kerry King
Kerry Ray King is an American musician, best known for being the guitarist and songwriter for the American thrash metal band Slayer. He co-founded the band with Jeff Hanneman in 1981 and remained a member for nearly four decades.
Biography
King was born in Los Angeles, California. His father was an aircraft parts inspector, and his mother worked for the telephone company. King attended Warren High School in Downey, California, and started learning guitar at Calvano's Music in South Gate.In 1981, King was at an audition trying out for the position of guitarist when he approached Jeff Hanneman, who was playing guitar at the reception desk, and said they should jam together and see if they liked playing together. King and Hanneman subsequently decided to start their own band, which would soon evolve into Slayer. King, along with bassist/vocalist Tom Araya, remained in Slayer for the entire length of the band's career, from 1981 to 2019.
In 1984, King was invited by Dave Mustaine to join another Thrash Metal band, Megadeth. Although King did agree to partake in many gigs with them, he ultimately did not join full time due to his commitment to Slayer.
King has a trademark personal appearance and extensive tattoos all over his arms and head. His tattoo was praised to such a degree by Blender Magazine that they once produced a tour of his body ink. King's abbreviation, KFK, was revealed to mean "Kerry Fuckin' King" in the January 2007 Issue of Guitar World. King currently resides in Corona, California.
Guest appearances
In addition to appearing on Slayer's albums, he has also made several guest appearances for other artists. While lending production to 1986's Reign in Blood, Rick Rubin was also helping with the production of the Beastie Boys' debut album Licensed to Ill. Rubin felt the track "No Sleep till Brooklyn" needed a guitar solo, so he called in King to lay down the part. King has since commented that his playing ability "certainly wasn't that of a virtuoso". The video for "No Sleep till Brooklyn", whose title was a spoof on Motörhead's 1981 live album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith, was originally intended to feature King being knocked offstage by a gorilla, although King refused. King replied, "If there's gonna be anyone knocking anyone offstage, it'll be me knocking the gorilla", which was what subsequently happened.On Licensed to Ill, King also played the guitar solo on the song "Fight For Your Right ".
King contributed the main lead guitar solo and outro part to Pantera's song "Goddamn Electric", which appeared on the 2000 album, Reinventing the Steel. King's rig was set up in Pantera's bathroom backstage just after Ozzfest in Dallas, as the group still did not have their own dressing room, on top of not appearing on the festival bill. King has also made several guest appearances on Marilyn Manson's Rape of the World Tour, joining the band to play tracks such as "Little Horn", "1996" and "Irresponsible Hate Anthem". Many fans noticed elements of King's own style used on these occasions. On October 21, 2010, the final date of the Jägermeister Music Tour, King joined Megadeth on stage at the Gibson Amphitheater in Hollywood to perform "Rattlehead" which was the first time in 26 years that King had shared the stage with Megadeth.
He made a movie appearance in the 2009 movie Brooklyn's Finest as a member of SWAT team led by Ethan Hawke's character.
Style and influence
King's first experience with a guitar was when he was a child. Steve Huey of AllMusic has commented in his review for Reign in Blood that Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman's demented soloing often mimics the screams of the songs' victims. He also described his and Jeff Hanneman's guitar solos as "wildly chaotic". Thom Jurek, also of AllMusic, described his work on 2006's Christ Illusion as creating "an intensely harrowing and angular riff that changes from verse to verse, through the refrain and bridge, and comes back again."King listed Venom, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Mercyful Fate, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath as his favorite bands during his teen years. He said once "Anybody who plays heavy music and doesn't cite Sabbath as an influence is lying, because that's where it all started." He cited Glenn Tipton and K. K. Downing of Judas Priest as his biggest influences as a guitarist that inspire his style, tone, and gear. He mentioned Eddie Van Halen, Ted Nugent, Ronnie Montrose, Tony Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore, Michael Schenker, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Randy Rhoads as other influences.
Personal life
King has been twice divorced and has a daughter named Shyanne Kymberlee King with his first wife; his current wife is Ayesha King.King is an antitheist. He is known to oppose and strongly criticise organized religion by expressing his views in his songwriting. In a 2006 interview with Blabbermouth.net, King expressed his anti-religious views: "I don't really have a life philosophy; my thing is just rebelling against pretty much organized religion. That is my main thing, because personally I think it's a crutch for people that are too weak to get through life on their own. I'm the kind of guy that says if I don't see it, then it doesn't work. And nobody can show me God." When asked by Revolver Magazine what superpower would he want if he was a supervillain, King replied "the ability to burst a church into flames by simply walking by it."
King is an avid snake collector who owns a reptile house and herpetology nursery called Psychotic Exotics.
King has stayed clear of politics, but stated in 2017 that he was "embarrassed about Trump's presidency," which he described as "divisive and polarizing."
Equipment
| Name | Ref |
| Accessories | |
| Jim Dunlop Signature Strings | |
| Monster Cable | |
| MM Guitar Picks | |
| Kahler Tremolo System | |
| Dragon Cases | |
| EMG 81 | |
| EMG 85 | |
| EMG PA2 Gain Boost Switch | |
| EMG SA | |
| Fernandes FSK-401 Sustainer | |
| Fernandes FSK-101 Sustainer | |
| EMG 81-7 | |
| EMG 707 | - |
Discography
;Slayer| Year | Album | Ref |
| 1983 | Show No Mercy | |
| 1984 | Haunting the Chapel | |
| 1984 | Live Undead | |
| 1985 | Hell Awaits | |
| 1986 | Reign in Blood | |
| 1988 | South of Heaven | |
| 1990 | Seasons in the Abyss | |
| 1991 | Decade of Aggression | |
| 1994 | Divine Intervention | |
| 1996 | Undisputed Attitude | |
| 1998 | Diabolus in Musica | |
| 2001 | God Hates Us All | |
| 2006 | Eternal Pyre | |
| 2006 | Christ Illusion | |
| 2009 | World Painted Blood | |
| 2015 | Repentless |
;Other artists
| Year | Song | Artist | Ref |
| 1986 | "No Sleep till Brooklyn" | Beastie Boys | |
| 2000 | "Goddamn Electric" | Pantera | |
| 2001 | "Dead Girl Superstar" | Rob Zombie | |
| 2001 | "Final Prayer" | Hatebreed | |
| 2002 | "It's What We're All About" | Sum 41 | |
| 2005 | "Frontlines" | Soulfly | |
| 2010 | "Witchkrieg" | Witchery |