This past Saturday (March 31), Slayer guitarist Kerry King’s longtime tech Armand Crump passed away. At the moment, a cause of death has yet to be determined. Crump was 35 years old.
Numerous musicians from the metal and rock community paid tribute to Crump this past weekend. Yesterday, though, Kerry King himself released the following statement about his longtime guitar tech:
“Holy shit. Never thought I’d be writing this. The world lost a great man yesterday. It was an incredibly rough day for me, I can’t imagine what it was like for his family and Cassie. Needless to say, no one saw this coming. I thought I had a great guitar tech until the day I retire. LIFE IS SHORT enjoy what you have while you have it.
I was one of the few lucky ones. I saw him Friday, played him some new Slayer and watched him bang his head and play air guitar. What a great dude!! I even got what may have been his last man hug. Love ya buddy.”
Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo also released the following statement regarding the passing of Crump:
“Slayer and the Metal Road Crew Community is mourning the loss of a hard worker and dear friend Armand Butts Crump III. He was the best, he had to be to work for Kerry King. I’m going to miss him fucking with me from stage left. I still can’t believe it. We are deeply saddened. RIP ABCIII”
Video of Armand taking DunlopTV through King’s live rig can be seen after the jump [starting around the 1:50 mark]. Our condolences go out to Crump’s family and friends.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms9wL7ksjiU[/youtube]
[photo via EMG]
