Slayer Drummer Dave Lombardo Ditched Over Contract Dispute

Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo was ditched over a contract dispute. Lombardo, a founding member of the band, was removed from their Australian tour dates.

The news was posted on Facebook by the drummer, who said he is “shocked” and “saddened” by the band’s decision to remove him.

The tour starts on Saturday and is followed by several stops around the world, reports NME. Lombardo’s Facebook post reads, in part:

“Last year, I discovered 90 percent 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 percent or less to split amongst the four of us.”

He went on to say that he did not believe a band’s business should operate this way. When Dave Lombardo went into the studio for rehearsal on Thursday, the band’s guitarist did not show. Instead, he received an email later in the day that explained he was being replaced for the band’s show dates in Australia.

Slayer’s drummer replacement will be Jon Dette, who was with the band on numerous occasions when Lombardo took a 10 year break. The Toronto Sun adds that Lombardo will also not be paid until he signs “a longform contract which gave me no written assurances of how much or on what basis management would deduct commissions.”

Lombardo added that he spoke to the guitarist, Kerry King, and Tom to propose a new business model for the band. Instead, Kerry stated that he “wasn’t interested in making changes.” He added that if Dave wanted to argue the point that King would find a new drummer.

Lombardo ended the letter by apologizing to fans that he will not be in Australia. It is not known if he will be with the band for the rest of their tour dates.

Are you upset that Slayer’s drummer Dave Lombardo was ditched, at least temporarily, over a contract dispute?

[Image By Stueymedia (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons]