Chilean-American musician Tom Araya is the bassist and vocalist of the thrash metal band, Slayer. He has been with them since its inception in 1981. Until the 2010s, Araya was known for his aggressive headbanging during performances, however, a throat injury that led to surgery saw him become more stable and subtle in his performances.
With Slayer, he has won two Grammy Awards for the songs “Eyes of the Insane” and “Final Six” both from their 2006 album Christ Illusion which is widely considered as one of their most successful albums in the modern era. Slayer has sold over 5 million records between the early 90s and 2013 in the United States alone. After 37 years of performing together, Slayer embarked on their farewell tour in 2018.
Tom Araya Bio (Age)
Tom Araya was born Tomás Enrique Araya Díaz on June 6, 1961, in Viña del Mar, Chile. When he was 5 years old, his family relocated to the United States where they lived in Maywood, a small city in the southeast of Los Angeles County, California. The neighborhood was known for recurrent gang-related violence.
Influenced by his older brother named Cisco who played the guitar, Araya at the age of 8 developed a passion for music and began playing the bass guitar. Together with his brother, he would play songs by the Beatles and Rolling Stones.
In his early twenties, Araya upon the suggestion of his sister enrolled in a program that would make him become a certified respiratory therapist. Soon he got a job and in a short while became a founding member of the heavy metal band, Slayer after being approached by Kerry King. The band started recording with the help of the money that Araya had earned as a respiratory specialist. By 1983, their debut album Show No Mercy was released.
All the while, Tom Araya still maintained his day job, however, conflicts in time schedule between the job and his tour dates would later force him to quit the job in 1984.
In addition to his older brother Cisco who played the guitar, Araya has another brother named Juan “Johnny” Araya who like him plays the bass and is part of the melodic death metal band, Thine Eyes Bleed.
His Family – Wife (Sandra), Daughter, and Son
Tom Araya is a family man and a loyal one at that. Since 1995, he has remained married to his wife Sandra Araya. They each have a tattoo of one another’s names on their arms. Perhaps what attracted them to each other was their shared fascination with horror films. Top on their favorite list is The Amityville Horror and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
Araya and his wife share two kids daughter Ariel Asa Araya who was born on May 11, 1996, and a son, Tomas Enrique Araya, Jr. who was born on June 14, 1999. Both of his children are homeschooled. The family resides in Buffalo, Texas. There, Araya and his wife operate a ranch that occupies at least 60 head of cattle.
Tom Araya Religion
Tom Araya has helped make some of the most “demonic” songs the world has ever heard, making the subject of his religion a controversial one. Slayer was among one of the bands to use lots of satanic imagery in the 1980s. Tom Araya himself has been open about his fascination with serial killers which has inspired many of the songs put out by his band. He has openly revealed that he has the most twisted mind in the band when it comes to thinking of ways of killing people and generally, death. Despite Slayer’s heavy use of satanic imagery, Tom Araya has maintained that he is a Catholic, a believer in Christ, and a God that is all-loving.
He has also explained that the image of his band could never interfere with his belief system which he says is rock solid. However, many have viewed his explanations as hypocritical. Tom has pointed out that the widespread belief that members of Slayer are satan worshippers is only a misconception. He specified in 2016 that the primary reason Slayer used satanic imagery was to scare people.
Height – How Tall Is He?
Tom Araya is beyond an average-sized man standing at 5 feet 10 inches tall which is the equivalent of 1.78 m. His hair color is black while his eye color is dark brown.
