Kerry King was born June 3, 1964 in Los Angeles, California to a father who was an aircraft parts inspector and a mother who worked as a telephone company employee. He has been married twice, and has a daughter named Shyanne Kymberlee King.
In 1981 King was trying out for the position as a guitarist in a band. After the session was over Jeff Hanneman approached him and the two began playing
Iron Maiden and Judas Priest songs with the session drummer. King mentioned
"Why don’t we start our OWN band?” [Laughs] and I was like, “…Fuck yeah!". Like most heavy metal musicians, King had long hair, but then shaved his head when he started balding. His bald head, spiked wristband, and extensive tattoo work (which covers his hands, arms and head) are his trademarks, to such a degree that Blender included a tour of his body ink.
King's acronym, KFK, was revealed to mean "Kerry Fucking King!" in the January 2007 Issue of Guitar World.
Over the years, Kerry King's guitar style has remained similar, giving him a very distinctive sound. Aside from his strong, often angular rhythm guitar work, King is one of the most distinctive soloists in metal: focusing more on speed and chaos than on melody or typical metal-style technical precision, King typically makes extensive and unorthodox use of whammy bar and uses a very heavy, irregular vibrato.
Some fans and critics have disapproved of King's solo style, but it should be noted that his solo style had little precedent, but has exerted a strong influence, particularly thrash and death metal bands, where diatonicism is less important than in traditional rock and metal.
Perhaps Slayer's primary lyricist, King's songs are mostly based on Satanic subjects, which he attributes to his love of horror movies. He has stated he does not believe in God, and he does not believe in Satan, but he writes about Satanic subjects because he says it is more fun to sing about Satan than God.
King has frequently and outspokenly criticized organized religion and describes it as a "crutch" for people who are "too weak to get through life on their own." King has also stated that "I'm the kind of guy that says if I don't see it, then it doesn't work. And nobody can show me God."
Like Plato's uncle Critias of more than 2000 years ago, King frequently attempts to awaken modern society to the fact that religion is "the ultimate form of mind control that is perfectly legal." (Metal: A Headbanger's Journey). In the same documentary King says that religion is a "load of shit".
King has had well-publicized disagreements with several of his contemporaries, including a long-standing feud with Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, who attempted to persuade King to leave the "posers," "lame spikes," and "eyeliner" of Slayer behind and focus on Megadeth. Recently in GuitarWorld.com's Dear Guitar Hero, King "admires him to this day" as a guitarist, even though he considers Mustaine a "hypocrite".
Another feud is with Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn, who claims that King started "talking shit about us out of nowhere." King labeled Machine Head as “sell-outs” after the release of their 2001 album Supercharger. King continued to criticize the band stating "They're responsible for rap-metal", "they fooled me into thinking they're metal", "'they have no integrity left." King and Flynn reportedly ended this feud backstage at the "Metal Hammer" awards show in London on June 11th 2007.
In 2006, Slayer's producer Rick Rubin lent production to Metallica's untitled ninth studio album, instead of Slayer for their album Christ Illusion. King deemed this action a "slap in the fucking face," labeling Metallica as a "sinking ship."
In addition to appearing on Slayer's albums, he has also made several guest appearances as lead guitarist. While lending production to 1986’s Reign in Blood, Rick Rubin was also helming production of the Beastie Boys debut album Licensed to Ill. Rubin felt the track "No Sleep till Brooklyn" needed a guitar solo, so he offered King several hundred dollars to lay down the part. He also did the guitars on "Fight For Your Right (To Party)", and "She's Crafty". King has since commented that his playing ability "certainly wasn’t that of a virtuoso". "No Sleep till Brooklyn", whose title was a spoof on Motörhead’s 1981 live album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith, was originally intended to feature King being knocked offstage by a gorilla in its music video though King refused. King replied "If there’s gonna be any knocking offstage, it’ll be me knocking the gorilla", which is what subsequently happened. King has reminisced that he thought the Beastie Boys were cool, although never having heard any of their music at the time.
King contributed a lead guitar outro part to Pantera’s song "Goddamn Electric", which appeared on the 2000 album "Reinventing the Steel". King’s rig was set up in Pantera’s bathroom backstage just after Ozzfest in Dallas, as the group still had their own dressing room despite not appearing on the festival bill. After King had finished the first take, Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell yelled "DON’T LET HIM DO IT AGAIN!" King tried again with the hope would find a superior rendition, though the first take was used.
King also contributed lead guitar solos to the following songs; "Disorder" with rapper Ice-T (from the 1992 album "Judgment Night"), Rob Zombie’s "Dead Girl Superstar" (from the 2001 album The Sinister Urge), Hatebreed’s "Final Prayer" (from the March 2002 album Persevereance) and Sum 41’s "What We're All About (The Original Version)", (from the June 2002 released Spider-Man movie soundtrack).
King favours neck-thru guitars in studio recordings and live performances.
* Marshall JCM-800 2203KK Custom Amps
* Celestion G12K-100 and Vintage 30 Speakers
* Dunlop .009-.042 Strings
* EMG 81 and 85 Pick-ups with EMG Afterburner
* Fernandes Sustainer
* TKL Cases
* MXR Smart Gate Pro
* MXR KFK 10 band EQ
* Shure UHF Wireless System
* Kahler Tremolo Systems
* Monster Cable
* In Tune Guitar Picks
* BOSS RGE-10 Graphic Eq[5]
* Marshall 4x12" speaker cabinets with Celestion 12" speakers
* Dunlop DCR-1SR Rack Crybaby Wah
* Dunlop Q-Zone pedal
* Dunlop Zakk Wylde Signature Wah Pedal
* Dunlop Dimebag Darrell Signature Wah Pedal
* B.C. Rich signature KKV and Warlock guitars.
Kerry is a long time and noted herpetoculturist and snake breeder who is known to pop up at Southern California reptile events and pet shops with little notice. In 2005, he participated in an online chat discussion with both music and snake fans at the popular online reptile community kingsnake.com where he discussed both his involvement with Slayer and his interest in reptiles.
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