MarketGary Holt (guitarist)
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Gary Holt (guitarist)

Gary Wayne Holt is an American musician from the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the guitarist and main songwriter for thrash metal band Exodus, and has also been a member of Slayer since 2011, initially joining as a temporary guitarist in place of Jeff Hanneman, and as a permanent guitarist after his death in May 2013. Despite the fact that he did not join Exodus until 1981, Holt is the only member to appear on all of the band's albums.

Career
Exodus After guitarist Tim Agnello left Exodus in 1981, Holt joined the band and has been the main songwriter and the most senior member of the group ever since. Following Kirk Hammett's 1983 departure from Exodus to join Metallica, Holt kept the band going and for many years, he and Rick Hunolt were referred to as the Exodus' "H-Team" guitar players. Holt is the only member of Exodus who has played on every album. Slayer in Kyiv in March 2011. This was his first show in Europe with the band. On February 12, 2011, it was announced that Holt would be temporarily filling in for Jeff Hanneman in the band Slayer. He was present for several of their tours that year, including the co-headlining European Carnage Tour with Megadeth. Holt also played with Slayer for the Big 4 concert (with Metallica, Megadeth and Anthrax) in Indio, California on April 23, 2011, as well as Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas on November 6, 2011. Holt was later confirmed to be a permanent member of Slayer, following Hanneman's death on May 2, 2013, and stayed with the band until their split, following the conclusion of their 2018–2019 farewell tour. He also recorded guitar tracks on Slayer's 2015 album Repentless, but did not have any writing contributions on the album, except for guitar solos. Other work In October 2008, Holt released an instructional guitar video called "A Lesson in Guitar Violence". He also produced Warbringer's second album, Waking into Nightmares. In 2019 he was included on "Cheapside Sloggers", a song on Volbeat's Rewind, Replay, Rebound. In April 2025, Holt's memoir, A Fabulous Disaster, co-written with metal journalist, Adem Tepedelen, was published by Hachette Book Group imprint Da Capo Press. The book features a foreword by Metallica guitarist, and former Exodus bandmate, Kirk Hammett. ==Equipment==
Equipment
Holt endorses ESP Guitars as of September 2014 and has a signature version of the Eclipse model, ending his relationship with Schecter Guitar Research, where he previously had various signature models. He has also used Ibanez, B.C. Rich, Jackson Guitars, Bernie Rico Jr., and Yamaha guitars. For amplification, he currently uses a Marshall Silver Jubilee in Slayer and an ENGL Savage 120 in Exodus as well as a Kemper Profiling amp. In the past, he has used a modified Marshall JCM800, Mesa Boogie Mark III, Marshall JVM, Peavey Triple XXX, and ENGL Savage 120. Before using the Silver Jubilee, DSL100H and Marshall JVM amps with Slayer, Holt made use of Jeff Hanneman's touring rack. Holt has a signature 4x12 speaker cabinet made by boutique American cabinet maker Arachnid Cabinets. ==Musical influences==
Musical influences
Holt's main guitar influences are Ritchie Blackmore, Michael Schenker, Angus Young, Tony Iommi, Uli Jon Roth, Matthias Jabs and Ted Nugent. His favorite bands include Venom, Motörhead, Black Sabbath, early Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. ==Personal life==
Personal life
Outside of music, Holt enjoys foreign and period films. According to Holt, the track "War Is My Shepherd" on the album Tempo of the Damned is a treatise of America's "pro-God" and "pro-war" stance and how he feels the two beliefs are incompatible with each other. Holt endorsed Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, stating, "I used to have a lot of respect for McCain, but he realized after the dirty defeat that he suffered at the hands of George W. Bush in the South Carolina primary in the (2000) election that he can only get elected if he plays the Karl Rove tactic b.s. He's doing it. It's just one debunked lie after the other. He's the kind of guy who will tell you the sky is red, you look up and it's blue, and he won't admit he's wrong. He's playing dirty politics. Palin is just terrifying, the thought of this lady being a heart attack away from having the nuclear codes. She's crazy and she's dumb." Holt is an atheist. In October 2017, he became a vegan. On December 17, 2018, his father Billie Charles Holt (born July 6, 1933) died. ==Discography==
Discography
Exodus • 1982: 1982 Demo • 1985: Bonded by Blood • 1987: Pleasures of the Flesh • 1989: Fabulous Disaster • 1990: Impact Is Imminent • 1991: Good Friendly Violent Fun • 1992: Lessons in Violence • 1992: Force of Habit • 1997: Another Lesson in Violence • 2004: Tempo of the Damned • 2005: Shovel Headed Kill Machine • 2007: The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A • 2008: Let There Be Blood • 2008: Shovel Headed Tour Machine: Live at Wacken & Other Assorted Atrocities • 2010: Exhibit B: The Human Condition • 2014: Blood In, Blood Out • 2021: Persona Non Grata • 2026: Goliath Slayer • 2015: Repentless • 2019: The Repentless Killogy Asylum • 1990: Asylum (Demo) Destruction • 2008: D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N. Heathen • 2009: The Evolution of Chaos Hypocrisy • 2005: Virus Laughing Dead • 1990: Demo 1990 (Demo) Metal Allegiance • 2015: Metal Allegiance [Gift of Pain] Panic • 1991: Epidemic Under • 1998: Under (EP) Warbringer • 2009: Waking into Nightmares Witchery • 2010: Witchkrieg ==References==
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