Tom Araya lives in Texas. Slayer’s singer and bassist has called small-town East Texas home since the mid-1990s, on what the Austin Chronicle described in 2010 as a 63-acre ranch. He moved so his wife could be near her family in Houston. Three decades on, he says he’s “completely Texan-ized.” He raises cattle, sings country songs to stay in voice, and in May 2026 he started the engines at Texas Motor Speedway.
The Short Version
- Born Tomás Enrique Araya Díaz, June 6, 1961, in Viña del Mar, Chile. Raised in Los Angeles.
- Slayer’s bassist and singer since 1981.
- Lives in small-town East Texas, since the mid-1990s, on a 63-acre ranch (Austin Chronicle, 2010).
- Moved because his wife is from Houston (Houston Press, 2013).
- Grand marshal of NASCAR’s Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway, May 3, 2026.
- Bass: ESP signature, currently the LTD TA-604 FRX.
Where Is Tom Araya From?
Chile first. Wikipedia gives his full name as Tomás Enrique Araya Díaz, born June 6, 1961, in Viña del Mar. His family moved to the United States when he was about five, and he grew up in Los Angeles.
Chile has not forgotten him. In 2011 Viña del Mar gave him the keys to the city. After high school he trained as a respiratory therapist, and that paycheck helped fund Slayer’s 1983 debut, Show No Mercy. Our Slayer history tells the rest of that story.
The short version: Kerry King invited him into Slayer in 1981, and he has sung and played bass on every record since. He and King are the two members who stayed for the whole run. His first credited lyric was “At Dawn They Sleep” on Hell Awaits (1985). He later wrote the words to “Eyes of the Insane” (2006), which won a Grammy. Wikipedia says a Texas Monthly article about soldiers’ trauma inspired it.
He describes his job in the band plainly. “I’m basically a lyricist and a melodymaker,” he told the Austin Chronicle‘s Raoul Hernandez in 2010. “I try to get a melody out of what’s given to me.” If you want the record where that voice shaped thrash, start with Reign in Blood (1986).
Those early Slayer records hit Texas hard. The earliest surviving Rotting Corpse footage is the band playing Slayer’s “Die By The Sword,” a Show No Mercy song, at Sneakers in San Antonio in May 1986. It’s on our media page, and the club is on our venues page. In a 2025 essay quoted on our press page, the author Ian Christe put it this way: “The Lone Star State even had its own Slayer!”
Slayer
Formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981, with Araya on bass and vocals throughout. Start with Reign in Blood (1986), then South of Heaven (1988).
Why Did Tom Araya Move to Texas?
Family. In November 2013 the Houston Press‘s Nathan Smith described Araya as “the Chilean-born ex-Los Angeleno who has called small-town East Texas home now for nearly two decades.” That puts the move in the mid-1990s. Araya gave the reason in his own words.
“We came to Texas for that reason, so she could be closer to her mom.”
“My wife is from Houston,” he told the Press, and they moved to be near her family. Two decades later he was laughing about how far it had gone: “Now I’m completely Texan-ized.”
Where in East Texas? We’re keeping it at the regional level the interviews mostly use: “small-town East Texas” and “a ranch in East Texas.” It’s a family home, and the region is all this story needs.
Tom Araya’s Texas Ranch
The ranch is 63 acres, according to the Austin Chronicle. When Hernandez reached him by phone in late July 2010, Araya was about to leave it for another Slayer tour.
The animals came up in a 2006 San Antonio Express-News interview with David Glessner, which Blabbermouth reported. “I have five cows. I have a bull and four heifers that are due to have babies,” he said, “so I’m hopefully going to increase my herd.” He also had chickens.
A year later the herd had grown. “I raise animals. I have a ranch in Texas,” he told the Miami New Times in July 2007, as Blabbermouth reported. “I have cows, chickens, dogs, pigs, ducks....” He said he had “just started a herd of nine cows,” raised for meat, not milk.
“When I get home, I become a ranch hand.”
That line is from the same 2007 interview. He was quick to share the credit. “My wife takes care of the animals when I’m on tour,” he said. In 2006 he’d put it more bluntly: “She’s the supervisor, though.” Asked in 2007 whether he wore a cowboy hat, he answered, “Not yet.”
Country Songs, Tubing and Texas Pride
The way he keeps his voice in shape at home is not what most Slayer fans would guess. “I also have an acoustic guitar and I sing various country songs from songbooks,” he told the Express-News in 2006. “That’s how I keep my singing chops up and my fingers at the ready.” He didn’t name the songs, and we won’t guess.
He has picked up the state’s outlook, too. The 2010 Chronicle interview opened with him correcting the writer’s pronunciation of Palestine, Texas: “Pales-teen.” Asked if he felt Texan, he said, “Yeah. Yeah, I sure do. I sure do.”
He had a theory about why the place feels different. “It’s very different from an American mentality,” he said. “Very proud. A very proud mentality. It all stems from the fact that Texas was a republic.” Asked about trips to Austin, he said the family had gone down the river four or five times: “tubed down the river with a cooler.”
He knows the state’s metal history, as well. Asked whether San Antonio earned its metal reputation, he said “Yeah, very,” and remembered a show with a San Antonio band that also called itself Slayer. “We did a show with them and after the show we carried the name,” he said, laughing. “That was done in San Antonio, the metal capital.” That band was S.A. Slayer. Our pieces on S.A. Slayer and San Antonio, heavy metal capital of the world tell both stories.
Tom Araya, NASCAR Grand Marshal at Texas Motor Speedway
On Sunday, May 3, 2026, Araya was grand marshal of NASCAR’s Würth 400 presented by Liqui Moly at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Blabbermouth announced it on April 29, during the speedway’s 30th anniversary season. The race aired on FS1.
His statement before the race was short. “Excited to be the Grand Marshal for the Würth 400,” he said. “SLAYER, NASCAR reign in speed!” On race day he gave the command “Drivers, start your engines,” Blabbermouth reported. Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg was the honorary pace car driver.
He came back to the same track five months later with his band. On October 24, 2026, Slayer played the first Sick New World Texas festival at the speedway, a stop on its Reign in Blood 40th anniversary run. Slayer had ended its farewell tour at the Kia Forum on November 30, 2019, then reunited in 2024 for Riot Fest. The Dallas Observer reviewed the day, and our Slayer history has the background on the reunion.
His name turned up somewhere else in October 2026. Rockstar’s preview of Grand Theft Auto VI radio included The Chamber 106.6, a metal station with hosts called DJ Tom and DJ Kerry, Destructoid reported. The Fader says directly that “Tom Araya and Kerry King will be hosting the metal station.” Slayer’s “Raining Blood” is on the playlist.
Texas Motor Speedway Open
Araya started the Würth 400 here on May 3, 2026, and Slayer played Sick New World Texas here on October 24. The speedway’s calendar already lists the 2027 Würth 400 for May 2, 2027.
Photo: Eugene Griffith via Google
Tom Araya’s Bass: The ESP Signature and the Pick
Araya plays ESP. Wikipedia says he was one of the first bassists with a signature ESP series, and that he endorses Marshall, with a VBA400 amp and an 8x10 cabinet. Early Slayer photos show a Fender Precision Bass, and he has also played B.C. Rich.
The current signature model is the LTD TA-604 FRX. ESP’s own page lists a neck-through build with a maple body, a three-piece maple neck in a thin U shape and a 35-inch scale. The fingerboard is Macassar ebony with 24 extra-jumbo frets and Slayer pentagram inlays.
The electronics are two active EMG 35DC pickups with volume, balance and tone. It has an LTD BB-604 bridge and Grover tuners, in a black satin finish with black hardware.
Does Tom Araya use a pick? Yes, now. Wikipedia lists D’Addario picks and straps and Dunlop stainless steel strings. It also says he played with his fingers before South of Heaven (1988), so the early records are fingerstyle.
Where to Hear It Live
As of October 2026, Slayer has no more Texas dates announced after Sick New World Texas. The next shows are in California and Latin America, per Blabbermouth’s May 2026 tour report:
- November 13 and 14, 2026: Kia Forum, Inglewood, California, with Cannibal Corpse, Cavalera and Crowbar.
- December 5, 2026: Vive Claro, Bogotá, Colombia, with Kreator.
- December 10, 2026: Estadio Santa Laura, Santiago, Chile, with Kreator (our Kreator history covers the band). That’s the country Araya was born in. CNN Chile lists tickets on Ticketmaster.
- December 14, 2026: Movistar Arena, Buenos Aires, Argentina, with Kreator.
- December 17, 2026: Nubank Parque (formerly Allianz Parque), São Paulo, Brazil, with Kreator. The stadium took the Nubank name in May 2026, so search tickets under the new one.
For new dates, including any return to Texas, watch the tour page on slayer.net. In North Texas, Rotting Corpse play the Haltom Theater in Haltom City on November 14 with Fort Worth’s Iron Jaw. In West Texas, they play Spam’s Bar and Lounge in San Angelo on December 5. Every date is on the shows page.
Start with “Payment in Blood” (1990)
It was cut in January 1990 at Elephant Track Studios in San Antonio, the city Araya calls “the metal capital,” and the lyrics and session credits are on the site.
Sources
- Austin Chronicle: Melodymaker (Raoul Hernandez, September 24, 2010)
- Houston Press: Could Slayer’s Bloody Reign Be Coming to an End? (Nathan Smith, November 11, 2013)
- Blabbermouth: Tom Araya keeps his singing chops up by singing country songs (June 22, 2006, from the San Antonio Express-News)
- Blabbermouth: Tom Araya, “I raise cows for personal consumption” (July 30, 2007, from the Miami New Times)
- Blabbermouth: Tom Araya named grand marshal for Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway (April 29, 2026)
- Blabbermouth: Tom Araya delivers “Drivers, start your engines” command (May 3, 2026)
- Blabbermouth: Slayer announces fall 2026 Reign in Blood 40th anniversary Latin American tour (May 29, 2026)
- Wikipedia: Tom Araya
- Wikipedia: South of Heaven
- ESP Guitars: LTD TA-604 FRX
- Destructoid: GTA 6’s radio stations include a returning Vice City classic and a ton of metal (Pedro Peres, October 8, 2026)
- CNN Chile: Slayer regresa a Chile para celebrar los 40 años de Reign in Blood
- The Fader: Grand Theft Auto VI’s radio station hosts include Bad Bunny, Lana Del Rey, and more (October 8, 2026)
- Dallas Observer: Sick New World launches in North Texas with riotous festival (October 2026)
- Texas Motor Speedway: Event Calendar
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Tom Araya live in Texas?
Yes. The Houston Press reported in 2013 that he had lived in small-town East Texas for nearly two decades. In 2010 the Austin Chronicle described his home as a 63-acre ranch in East Texas.
Why did Tom Araya move to Texas?
His wife is from Houston. He told the Houston Press in 2013: “We came to Texas for that reason, so she could be closer to her mom.”
Was Tom Araya the NASCAR grand marshal at Texas Motor Speedway?
Yes. He was grand marshal of the Wurth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth on May 3, 2026, and gave the command “Drivers, start your engines.”
What bass does Tom Araya play?
An ESP signature bass. ESP’s current model is the LTD TA-604 FRX: neck-through, maple body, 35-inch scale, two EMG 35DC pickups and Slayer pentagram inlays.
Does Tom Araya use a pick?
Yes. Wikipedia says he uses D’Addario picks and played with his fingers before South of Heaven (1988).
