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Tomás Enrique Araya Díaz (; born June 6, 1961) is a Chilean-American musician, best known as the vocalist and bassist of the thrash metal band Slayer. He was ranked 58th by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All Time. Araya, along with Kerry King, are the only members who stayed in the band since its inception.
Araya was employed as a respiratory therapist in the early 1980s and used his earnings to finance Slayer's debut album Show No Mercy (1983). Much of Araya's lyrical content is about , a subject he finds interesting; his first credited lyrical contribution was the vampire-themed track "At Dawn They Sleep" from 1985's Hell Awaits.
In the early 1980s, Araya's eldest sister suggested he enroll in a program to become certified as a respiratory therapist. Araya's father insisted he either find a job or enroll in the course. Araya enrolled in a two-year technical course, learning about air mixture ratios, Venipuncture, and how to intubate.
Slayer announced in January 2010 that back surgery had been scheduled for Araya and that the planned tour would be canceled through April of that year. Araya was known for his aggressive headbanging and began experiencing back problems while the band was on tour in Australia/New Zealand/Japan in October 2009. He had an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, saying "It seems to have done the trick but I can't headbang anymore."Geoff Barton: "The Big Four reunite"; Classic Rock #148, August 2010, p19 As a result of his surgery, Araya has significantly tempered his once aggressive on-stage movement, now remaining relatively still during performances. He has stated that he misses headbanging and the "physical connection."
On May 20, 2010, Slayer confirmed that they would play two songs on TV for Jimmy Kimmel Live!
In 2014, Araya made a cameo in the heavy metal horror film Hairmetal Shotgun Zombie Massacre: The Movie, directed by Joshua Allan Vargas.
From May 2018 to November 2019, with the last show being in their hometown Los Angeles, Slayer embarked on what they called their final world tour and dissolved.
Following the conclusion of Slayer's farewell tour, Araya remained out of the public eye for several years.
In February of 2024, just weeks after Kerry King stated that he had not spoken to Araya since the conclusion of Slayer's farewell tour, Slayer announced that they would be reuniting for two reunion shows in the fall of that year. Araya stated, "Nothing compares to the 90 minutes when we're onstage playing live, sharing that intense energy with our fans."
Araya wrote the lyrics for the Grammy Award-winning song "Eyes of the Insane" from Slayer's 2006 album Christ Illusion. The lyrics were inspired by an article in the Texas Monthly about the casualties of war and the experiences of soldiers coping with physical trauma and psychological trauma. Araya stated, "At points in their tour of Iraq, they need help and the military tends to ignore that, they kind of brush it under the mat and hopes it goes away. They try to make everything seem hunky dory and fine and dandy, when in actuality there is a lot of stuff going on that people can't handle. There's a lot of soldiers coming home with mental anguish. And the sad part is, we heard about post-traumatic stress after Vietnam War and the Gulf War and the military seems to want to wipe the slate clean with every new war."
Araya resides in Texas, where he owns a ranch with his wife Sandra Araya and two children, daughter Ariel Asa Araya (b. 1996) and son Tomas Enrique Araya Jr. (b. 1998). He and his wife run a family ranch that includes 60+ head of cattle among other ranch animals. Araya reports that he sings country songs to help keep his "singing chops up". Araya and his wife enjoy horror films such as The Amityville Horror and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The two allowed their children to watch horror films, but made it clear to them that it is just a movie when they asked "Is this real?" His children were homeschooled.
In 2011, Araya received the keys to the city of his birth, Viña del Mar.
Araya suffers from sleep apnea and uses a CPAP machine regularly at home and on tour.Archived at Ghostarchive and the
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Wayback Machine:
Commenting about the misconception of the band labeled as Satan worshippers, he said "Yeah, yeah I think that's one of the biggest misconceptions towards the band, but next to that just the fact that we're normal." Referencing Kerry King's lyrics, Araya said "I'm not one that's going to go, 'This sucks because it's contrary to my beliefs.' To me it's more like 'This is really good stuff. You're going to piss people off with this.
In 2016, Araya further explained that the main reason Slayer used satanic imagery was to scare people, in particular, the "Hollywood people", wanting to separate themselves from the "Glam metal".
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