Tomás Enrique Araya Díaz (Spanish: [ton aˈɾaʝa]; born June 6, 1961) is a Chilean-American musician, best known as the vocalist and bassist of American thrash metal band Slayer.

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).

Tomás Enrique Araya Diaz was born in Viña del Mar, Chile, but his family moved to the U.S. when he was five.

Araya accepted, using his earnings as a respiratory therapist to finance the band's 1983 debut album Show No Mercy.

[4] Araya requested time off of work from his employer, the Brotman Medical Center,[5] for Slayer's first European tour in 1984 and was denied; "'We need you to come in today.'

On January 7, 2010, Slayer announced on its official website that back surgery had been scheduled for Araya and that the planned tour would be canceled through April of that year.

"[8] As a result of his surgery, Araya has significantly tempered his once aggressive on-stage movement and headbanging; now remaining relatively still during performances.

On March 12, 2010, Metal Hammer magazine published an interview with Slayer's Dave Lombardo about Araya's recovery.

[11] 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[12][13] and eventually dissolved.

"[15] Araya's interest in serial killers serves as inspiration for many of his lyrics, including the songs titled "213" about Jeffrey Dahmer and "Dead Skin Mask" about Ed Gein.

It's always kind of intrigued me..."[3] 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 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.

[25] While on tour, his brother made a special "weight belt" for Araya to play the bass without straining his neck.