Gary Holt Was “Surprised” by Slayer Reunion Plans

When Slayer announced that they were reuniting for a few shows here and there back in 2024, we all were pretty fuckin’ shocked. I mean, it wasn’t very long ago that they had their final “farewell” tour, so it felt like there was a neat little bow on the band’s legendary career. In the days, weeks, and months since the reunion was announced, Kerry King revealed that he was “very surprised” by the decision to reunite and now we know his guitar battery mate Gary Holt was also unaware of the plans.

During a recent appearance on the Talk Is Jericho podcast, Holt looked back on the insanity that surrounded the Slayer reunion announcement, noting that he knew before most of the world did but that didn’t lessen the shock.

“People say, ‘Oh, this and that. You planned this all along.’ I’m like, look, I knew a little while before everybody else, but I didn’t know forever. I knew early enough to sit down at home and start studying the songs, ’cause I wanted to be really prepared. But, yeah, I was surprised.”

Noting that he hadn’t stopped playing after Slayer finished its “final tour”, having jumped immediately back into Exodus. With only the pandemic standing in his way for a time there, Holt said he was aware that Slayer likely had been receiving offers to reunite for some time before the decision to cash in on promoters’ interest was made.

“I’m sure there were offers for the band forever, but they felt like it was time, and I’m more than happy to do it. And at least as of now, the current method, which has been [for Slayer to play] a brief, minor, small little couple of shows [every year], that’s fine because I’m fully committed to Exodus. And so it allows me to do that and then go out [with Slayer] and play with fire, which, that shit’s expensive. Exodus does not get pyro.”