Here's an interesting little tidbit.
Before Jeff Hanneman's tragic passing in 2013, he made one last call… to bring back Paul Bostaph into the fold.
You may recall that Lombardo split from the band in February of that year, and the band temporarily hired Jon Ditte. So it was between Dette and Bostaph, and ultimately Hanneman made the call. At least that's what Kerry King said in a recent interview with Artisan News:
“I tried out Jon Dette and I tried out Paul on the same brand new two new songs,. I gave ‘em each the exact same amount of time to learn ‘em: ‘Here’s the parameters. Let’s see what happens.’ Then that was one of Jeff’s last decisions in Slayer; he voted Paul back in. And I wouldn’t go against Jeff. Jesus… For him to be paying attention and being able to make a decision, I was, like, fuckin’ sending skyrockets in the sky: ‘Thank you! Jeff did something!’ So I wanted him to be a part, and he couldn’t. So, you know, I know from talking to Jeff that he wanted Paul. I think Tom [Araya] wanted Paul, and I was already outnumbered, so it didn’t matter if I wanted Paul or wanted Jon; it didn’t matter.”
I imagine with Hanneman being out of commission, hearing any sort of decision from him made King elated. King went on to expain the convo when calling Bostaph:
“Before we gave him the gig, I called up Paul… ‘Cause we were friends the whole time; there was never bad blood. I mean, I don’t think I ever asked him why he quit. But, you know, he was always my friend. We’d come through town, and I’d say, ‘Hey, man, you coming to the show? Let’s go have some drinks.’ Whatever. And I called him. I said, ‘Paul, what’s there to say, if you get this gig, that you’re not just gonna f–king leave in eight months?’ And he’s, like, ‘Oh, man…’ I don’t remember exactly what he said, but he was just, like, ‘Oh, man. I’m more grown up now. I’m 50 years old. I don’t wanna go in other bands.’ And I’m, like, ‘Dude, I certainly don’t wanna get new bandmembers.’ If this is how it is ’till the day we’re done, I will be a happy motherf–ker, because it’s just a pain in the ass changing members.”
Slayer are gearing up to release Repentless on Sept. 11. You can hear the title track, and "When The Stillness Comes."
