Pop crooner and guitarist John Mayer has officially replaced Kerry King in the legendary metal band Slayer. The announcement, made via a cryptic X post featuring a photo of King with the caption “Your body is a Wonderland” has sent shockwaves through both the metal and pop music communities.

Slayer has been in the news recently after it was announced the band was reuniting for a few shows. This led fans to hope for a full fledged tour and new music from the band. King stepped in to set the record straight. “Slayer will never tour again” said King in an interview with ‘Bears & Twinks’ magazine. “We will never record new music. However I am all in for a quick cash grab.”

John Mayer Slayer

Slayer is a thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by Kerry King, Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo and Tom Araya. In 2019 The band broke up, retired or stopped touring depending on who you spoke to. King was the band’s guitarist for the entire duration. A little known fact is that King was a child actor who starred as Chunk in The Goonies and Peter on The Cosby Show. He was a small chubby boy who looked much younger than his actual age. He was often referred to as ‘The White Webster’ or ‘The Caucasian Gary Coleman’.

John Mayer is of course, the pop star and guitarist that is most famous for the pop hit “Your Body Is A Wonderland” and for dating famous women. Mayer dated Jennifer Aniston, Minka Kelly, Jessica Simpson and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. His most famous relationship was with Taylor Swift who wrote like 9 songs about him after they broke up.

Jerry Garcia

Since 2015, Meyer has toured with some of the original members of the Grateful Dead under the name Dead & Company. The thought of pop singer Mayer stepping in for the legendary Jerry Garcia was met with some skepticism and hatred. Bob Weir even commented that Jerry Garcia’s ghost haunted him and visited him for letting Mayer in the band and ruing the Dead’s legacy. 

Regardless of all that, Slayer has announced that Kerry King is out of the band and John Mayer is in. “We want to keep touring” said Singer Tom Araya. “We want to record new music and Kerry is a load and John is much easier to get along with. Plus he brings the girls in. We haven’t had a girl at one of our shows since 1990. John is going to get a neck tattoo and we are thinking of renaming the band to Mayer Slayer. 

Slayer songs Raining Blood, Seasons in The Abyss, Angel of Death and Dead Skin Mask will take on a whole new sound when Mayer add his tasty blues licks and smooth pop sensibilities. Then in turn, Mayers songs such as Gravity, Wonderland, and Daughters will sound amazing when Slayer speeds them up and takes them to the dark side.

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