Metallica Pays Tribute to Record Label Employee Killed in Paris Attacks

Mercury Records’ international project manager Thomas Ayad was one of 89 people killed at Paris music venue Le Bataclan in last week’s attacks. Earlier this week, Justin Bieber and Keith Richards both remembered Ayad on social media and now Metallica has also posted a heartfelt message about Ayad.

The band, who worked with him for eight years, wrote on Facebook, “While Thomas had the official title of being our ‘project manager,’ we knew him as a member of our Metallica family, a fan, a friend … and a warm, helpful, supportive familiar face each time we visited France. Friday we lost Thomas, at the Bataclan theatre, in a way that none of us can begin to comprehend. Our thoughts are with Thomas’ friends, family, co-workers and all Parisians during these very difficult times.”

Ayad was killed Friday when gunmen opened fire in Le Bataclan during an Eagles of Death Metal show. The attackers took concertgoers hostage as the rest of the city experienced a series of simultaneous shootings and explosions. The band was confirmed safe but announced that their merch manager Nick Alexander was among the victims.

On Wednesday, Eagles of Death Metal made their first statement since the attacks, also remembering Ayad, Alexander, and their other “record company compadres” who were killed, Marie Mosser, and Manu Perez. “Although bonded in grief with the victims, the fans, the families, the citizens of Paris, and all those affected by terrorism, we are proud to stand together, with our new family, now united by a common goal of love and compassion,” they wrote. “We would like to thank the French police, the FBI, the U.S. and French State Departments, and especially all those at ground zero with us who helped each other as best they could during this unimaginable ordeal, proving once again that love overshadows evil.”

This article originally appeared on EW.com