James Hetfield American Guitarist Born 1963 in Downey

Early life

James Alan Hetfield was born on 3 August 1963 in Downey, California. His father worked as a truck driver and his mother sang light opera. He has two older half-brothers and a younger sister. His parents divorced in 1976, and he later lived for a time with one of his half-brothers.

Music came early. He began piano lessons at nine, then picked up a drum kit that belonged to his half-brother, and at fourteen he started learning guitar. He attended Downey High School for his first two years and graduated from Brea Olinda High School in 1981. As a teenager he played in a few bands, among them Leather Charm, which was active from 1980 to 1981. He has named Aerosmith as the group that made him want to play guitar.

Career

Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after drummer Lars Ulrich placed an advertisement in a Los Angeles newspaper and Hetfield answered it. In the group he sings lead vocals and plays rhythm guitar, and he writes most of the lyrics and vocal melodies, working with Ulrich on the arrangements. The first line-up also included guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist Ron McGovney. McGovney was soon replaced by Cliff Burton, and in April 1983 Kirk Hammett took over the lead guitar position from Mustaine, who went on to form Megadeth.

The band's studio albums began with Kill 'Em All in 1983 and continued with Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice for All and the self-titled Metallica in 1991. Load and Reload followed in 1996 and 1997, then St. Anger in 2003, Death Magnetic in 2008, Hardwired... to Self-Destruct in 2016 and 72 Seasons in 2023. Robert Trujillo joined as bassist in the 2000s, and that line-up has toured worldwide since. Hetfield is best known for fast downpicked rhythm playing, and he occasionally takes guitar solos on Metallica recordings.

Outside Metallica he spent time in several side projects. Spastik Children was active from 1985 to 1990, and in 1990 he took part in a one-off project called The Gak, whose other members included Axl Rose, Duff McKagan and Sebastian Bach. He has also appeared on other artists' records, singing backing vocals on Danzig's debut album, playing guitar on a Primus track, and contributing vocals to the Heart song "Beautiful Broken" in 2016. At the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert he sang "Stone Cold Crazy" with the remaining members of Queen and Tony Iommi.

His screen work is limited. He appears in the documentary Anton Corbijn Inside Out from 2012 and is credited as a writer on the concert film Metallica Through the Never in 2013. He has acting credits in the films Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile in 2019 and The Thicket in 2024.

Recognition

Metallica has won 10 Grammy Awards. On 4 April 2009, Hetfield was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Ulrich, Hammett, Trujillo and former bassist Jason Newsted, along with Burton, who was represented by his father. The band closed the ceremony with "Master of Puppets" and "Enter Sandman". In 2010 his customised 1936 Auburn boat tail speedster, which he calls Slowburn, won the Goodguys West Coast Custom of the Year.

Personal life

Hetfield married Francesca Tomasi on 17 August 1997. They have three children, and the marriage ended in divorce in 2022. His interests outside music include hunting, farming and beekeeping, and building custom cars and motorcycles in his garage. He supports the Las Vegas Raiders, the San Francisco Giants and the San Jose Sharks. In one charity sale, he put a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro on eBay, with the proceeds going to a music programme for schools.