Artist News

Slayer sack drummer Lombardo

By | Published on Friday 22 February 2013

Dave Lombardo

Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo has announced that he has been fired from the band, or at least he will be replaced for their upcoming Australian tour due to a disagreement about the thrash metallers’ financial matters.

In a statement published on Facebook, Lombardo said: “Last year, I discovered 90% of Slayer’s tour income was being deducted as expenses including the professional fees paid to management, costing the band millions of dollars and leaving 10% or less to split amongst the four of us. In my opinion, this is not the way a band’s business should operate. I tried rectifying it by letting my bandmates know, and Tom [Araya, frontman] and I hired auditors to figure out what happened, but I was denied access to detailed information and the necessary back up documents”.

He continues that he recently discovered that he had not been paid for any of the band’s 2012 touring activity, and was told he would not see any payment until he signed a contract that he did not feel was clear enough about what percentage of his touring and record income would be taken by the band’s management. In addition to this, he alleges, the new contract prohibited him from making statements or conducting interviews on behalf of the band.

This all came to a head last week he said, explaining: “Last Monday, I sat down with Kerry [King, guitarist] and Tom to rehearse for Australia and to propose a new business model that I felt was the best way forward for Slayer to confidently protect itself so we could do what we do best… play for the fans. Kerry made it clear he wasn’t interested in making changes and said if I wanted to argue the point, he would find another drummer. On Thursday, I arrived at rehearsals at 1pm as scheduled, but Kerry did not show. Rather, at 6.24pm I received an email from the lawyers saying I was being replaced for the Australian dates”.

He added that he is “hopeful that we can resolve our issues”. Read the full statement here.



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