Jeffery John "Jeff" Hanneman (January 31, 1964 - May 2, 2013) was an American musician. He was most famous for being one of the founding members of the thrash metal band Slayer. He grew up in Los Angeles. His family had a military background which made Hanneman very interested in war. He expressed this interest in the words to many of the songs he has written for Slayer which are about warfare and destruction.