James Hetfield’s Confession About Kirk Hammett

Though Metallica’s initial lineup didn’t include their current lead guitarist, Kirk Hammett, fans worldwide have recognized him as the band’s solid member for decades. The musician has been creating, recording, and performing with the group since he joined them in 1982, a year after their formation.

Therefore, the band’s lead singer James Hetfield has been close with Hammett for a long time and knows what an extraordinary instrumentalist he is. While the frontman is one of the most celebrated guitar players of all time, seeing his bandmate playing the guitar the way he is made him confess something about Hammett.

Metallica’s Brief History And Kirk Hammett’s Tenure With Them

One of the greatest bands of all time, Metallica, hit the stage and the band members had significant contributions to metal music with their well-crafted sounds and lyrics. The legend’s beginning was drummer Lars Ulrich’s advertisement in a Los Angeles newspaper, The Recycler. Ulrich stated he was looking for musicians he could jam with, and James Hetfield saw it and answered the ad. So, he became the band’s singer and rhythm guitarist.

Ulrich and Hetfield officially founded Metallica on October 28, 1981, five months after they met, without knowing they would be very famous and successful. Also, another person that responded to the advertisement was Dave Mustaine, the lead guitarist who would form the iconic group Megadeth shortly after. However, Mustaine’s drug and alcohol addiction didn’t let them continue creating and performing together.

After Mustaine’s destructive and violent behaviors made the drummer and frontman think about his future in Metallica, they decided to part ways with Mustaine. Hetfield and Ulrich needed to find a new guitarist, and they recruited Kirk Hammet in a short time to replace their former guitar player. Even though Hammett wasn’t one of the founding members, his harmony and exceptional talent received very positive reviews from their newly formed fan base.

James Hetfield Had Something To Say About Kirk Hammett’s Guitar Playing

In time, Metallica had more and more fans worldwide that memorized their songs and were inspired by them when they decided to pursue professional musical careers like that. Moreover, Hammett’s riffs and live shows during the concerts drew significant attention from the critics and metalheads.

In one of his previous interviews with Newsweek, his bandmate James Hetfield shared his ideas about the guitarist and his performance. The Metallica frontman defined Hammett as a fantastic guitarist who created unique sounds and admitted what he wished for about his playing.

Hetfield stated that he wanted to perform like Hammett but couldn’t; instead, he did his best as a singer and rhythm player. The singer revealed that the guitarist was loud in rehearsals without noticing it and talked about Scorpions’ Michael Schenker, one of his favorites.

About his bandmate, Hetfield said in his interview that:

“Kirk’s an amazing lead player with a great lead sound. I wish I could play like him, but I can’t. So I become the best rhythm player I can. And being the singer, I love melody. Michael Schenker is probably one of my favorite guitar players as far as melody goes. All of the kinds of dual harmony things are things that I do in the studio, and Kirk comes in and does the solo stuff.

I think I’m a little more subtle than him. He’s pretty bombastic when he comes in with a sound. In rehearsals, it’s like, ‘Do you notice that you’re loud?’ He doesn’t. He loves noises and exploring noises. It is a great combo.”

Though his guitar playing received praise from numerous musicians and fans, the Metallica frontman was humble, as he always has been in his interview. Still, he’s right saying that Kirk Hammett is an excellent lead guitar player since Hetfield isn’t the only one thinking this way.