Kerry King revealed to Spin in a recent interview that Slayer is done with touring.
“I guarantee you we’re never gonna tour because that’s what we said we wouldn’t do,” the guitarist shared. “We’re never gonna record again, because I have another outlet to do that and it’s new.”
King continued, “As I told the guys [in King’s band] during this run, it’s new for me. It’s teenage King getting to go out and experience things with new people in new ways.”
“Even though I’ve done it for 40 years, now I’m with different dudes, different music. Aside from some of the small dressing rooms, it’s starting over and fun,” the musician further explained.
Slayer played their first shows in five years last fall at Riot Fest Chicago and Aftershock. They had retired in 2019 after the ‘Final Campaign’ farewell tour.
Last year in August, King spoke with Audio Ink Radio’s Anne Erickson about returning to performing with Slayer. He said, “Yeah, at the end of the day, it wasn’t bad blood. Tom [Araya] was just done.”
“And when Tom told me he was done, I went, ‘Okay, well, I’m not gonna try to talk you into it,’ because if you’re trying to talk somebody into it, their heart’s not in it. So it was over for me,” Kerry noted.
King added, “And, of course, a month after we were done, offers come in because people think you’re done. So what we retired from was touring. We never said we were done playing.”
“We said, ‘This is our final tour,’ and I don’t think three shows constitute a tour. So if you wanna get technical, I think we’re in the ballpark of being truthful,” the rocker stated.
Slayer will play Festival d’été de Québec in July, their first Canadian show in six years. They’re also set for Louder Than Life 2025 in September. Plus, they’ll join Black Sabbath’s final concert at Villa Park this summer.
