James Hetfield
history
Downey, California, USA
| Genre = Heavy metal, thrash metal, hard rock, speed metal
| Instrument = Guitar, vocals, piano, bass, drums
| Occupation = Musician, songwriter, producer
| Years_active = 1981–present
| Voice_type =
| Label = Warner Bros., Elektra, Megaforce
| Associated_acts = Metallica, Spastik Children
| URL = »metallica.com
| Notable_instruments = ESP "Truckster" Signature model,
ESP "Grynch" Signature model, ESP "Iron Cross" Signature model, ESP JH-2 Signature model, Gibson Explorer
}}
James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the American heavy metal band Metallica.
Biography
Birth
James Hetfield was born on August 3, 1963.»James Hetfield Biography, Bio, Profile, pictures, photos from Netglimse.com He is of English, German and Irish descent.
Hetfield's father, Virgil (a truck driver who later left the family) and mother, Cynthia (a light opera singer) were strict adherents to Christian Science, and accordingly, much of James' young life revolved around Christian Science.
In accordance with their beliefs, Hetfield's parents strongly disapproved of medicine or any other medical treatment and remained loyal to their faith even as Cynthia was dying from cancer.»http://geocities.com/james7hetfield/bio.htm
Musical influences
Hetfield was nine years old when he first began piano lessons, after which he took on his brother David's drums and finally, at the age of fourteen, he began to play guitar.»http://geocities.com/james7hetfield/bio2.htm He also was in a few bands as a child - one being Leather Charm and another Obsession.
Hetfield identifies Aerosmith as having been his main musical influence as a child,»http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939967/james_hetfield_the_rolling_stone_interview/4 and has said that they were the reason why he wanted to play guitar. Other bands and musicians such as Motörhead, UFO, ZZ Top, Black Sabbath, Saxon, Diamond Head, Johnny Cash, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The Who, Hank Williams Jr., Kiss, Rush, Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Judas Priest, Ted Nugent, AC/DC, Blue Ă–yster Cult, Venom, Led Zeppelin, The Yardbirds, and Thin Lizzy also had a major influence on his musical tastes. James has also mentioned in several magazine articles that one of his favorite unknown bands is a band called Chopcore founded by Brian Keeley. Another favorite of his is a band called Stutter with Ray Burr on guitar.»James Hetfield (I) - Biography
Metallica (since 1981)
In the early days of the band, Metallica experimented with a few different vocals and guitar combinations, essentially creating a setup like that of Diamond Head. (Eventually, they would cover Diamond Head's "Am I Evil?") Some of the options considered included adding another guitar player, having John Roads play lead guitar, as well as asking John Bush from Armored Saint (who later joined Anthrax) to sing for the band. Hetfield stated in a 1989 interview with Spin that the band wanted ex-Misfits' vocalist Glenn Danzig to be Metallica's singer, but it is unclear whether or not Danzig was ever actually approached to join the band. The finalized line-up of the band became Hetfield (rhythm guitar and vocals), Lars Ulrich (drums), Dave Mustaine (lead guitar), and Ron McGovney (bass).
From 1981 to 1983, Mustaine's alcoholism sparked heated altercations between himself and Hetfield. Mustaine also once poured beer onto Ron McGovney's bass very nearly causing serious damage. Eventually, Hetfield and Ulrich ejected Mustaine due to his alcoholic tendencies and recruited lead guitarist Kirk Hammett from the band Exodus the same day.»http://www.metallica.com/timeline.asp?page=events&n_categoryid=807&year=1983?sPosx=41 Mustaine was sent home on a 4-day bus journey, and went on to form the thrash metal band Megadeth.
Until the mid-1990s, Hetfield recorded all rhythm tracks and most harmony tracks. Since the recording of Load, Kirk Hammett is recording rhythm guitars as well. James occasionally plays guitar solos, too, such as "Nothing Else Matters", "My Friend of Misery" the outro solo on "The Outlaw Torn", the second solo on "To Live Is to Die", the second solo on "Orion", the first solo on "Suicide and Redemption", and the first interlude solo on "Master of Puppets". He also writes the majority of the guitar harmonies, as well as writing the lyrics, vocal melodies, and co-arranging the songs with Ulrich.
Hetfield has been involved in many onstage accidents, the most famous one being an incident with pyrotechnics at Montreal's Olympic Stadium. While on the GN'R-Metallica Stadium Tour on August 8, 1992, he accidentally stepped into the path of one of the chemical flames that had been rigged to shoot from the lip of the stage during the song "Fade to Black". Hetfield's guitar protected him from the full force of the blast; however, the fire engulfed his left side, burning his hand, arm, eyebrows, face and hair. He suffered second and third-degree burns, but was back on stage 17 days later, although his guitar duties were delegated to former guitar tech and Metal Church guitarist John Marshall for four weeks while he made a full recovery.
Hetfield has also broken his arm several times while skateboarding, which prevented him from playing guitar on stage, and subsequently caused Hetfield's management company Q Prime to add a clause in James' contract forbidding him to ride a skateboard during a Metallica tour.»http://www.musicfanclubs.org/metallica/jaymz.htm During a concert on tour for the Black Album, James experienced complications with his vocals after performing a cover of the Anti-Nowhere League's "So What", forcing him to take vocal lessons for the first time. James did basic warm-up exercises to piano keys with his vocal coach who also gave him a cassette tape of the piano warm-up for future use. Hetfield still uses the same cassette he was given in the early nineties to this day before any show or any recording Metallica does. James talks about his vocal training endeavours in the Metallica documentary film, Some Kind of Monster produced & directed by Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky.»http://www.metallica.com/Media/Video/dvd.asp?dvd_id=8
During the recording of the St. Anger album (2002–2003), Hetfield went into rehab to address his alcohol addiction. Hetfield rejoined the band after two months in rehab and seven months recovering with his family. He is now clean and sober and is determined to remain so, all of which is in Some Kind of Monster.
Some Kind of Monster also shows the making of the St. Anger album and documents the various conflicts and issues the band were facing at the time including the departure of Metallica's bassist, Jason Newsted, alcoholism, family commitments, and the future of the band with many in the rock press questioning whether the band would even still be together to see the completion of the St. Anger album.
Hetfield and Metallica addressed their need for a new bassist by recruiting Robert Trujillo. The new lineup has continued to make music and tour worldwide. Metallica's newest album, Death Magnetic, was released on September 12, 2008. Like St. Anger and every album of original material released by Metallica since 1991's Black Album, Death Magnetic went #1 on the Billboard charts in over 30 countries during its first week of release.»http://uk.music.ign.com/articles/906/906286p1.html
On April 4, 2009, James along with remaining Metallica members Lars, Kirk, Robert, Jason, as well as the late Cliff Burton were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. In an interview after their nomination, Hetfield commented that everyone who had appeared on an album with the band would be inducted. This excluded original guitarist Dave Mustaine and original bassist Ron McGovney, as both had appeared only on the band's early demo tapes.
Hetfield was ranked 24th in the Hit Parader's Top Metal Vocalist of All Time.»http://www.hearya.com/2006/12/04/hit-paraders-top-100-metal-vocalists-of-all-time/
He also collects vintage guitars—particularly those from 1963—and enjoys working on classic automobiles. Among his favorites are a '74 Chevy Nova, which he helped restore, and "The Beast", an all-terrain four wheel drive Blazer.
He put his 1967 Chevrolet Camaro up for sale on eBay, with the proceeds going to a Music for Schools program. The car was used in the video for "I Disappear" and was given to him as a gift upon the video's completion. Years later, James donated the car to the Hard Rock Cafe which is featured in the movie Hard Rock Treasures.
Hetfield has several tattoos, including one which shows flames encasing four cards, - ace (1), 9, 6 and 3 - representing the year of his birth, and the words "Carpe Diem" ("seize the day", also part of the title of the track "Carpe Diem Baby" off ReLoad). The flames from the tattoo are reportedly in reference to the pyrotechnic accident from which he suffered in 1992. He has also tattooed an 'M' on his right hand which stands for Metallica and 'F' on his left hand which stands for his wife Francesca.
Aside from these pursuits, Hetfield says he is often happiest spending time with his wife Francesca and their three children: Cali (June 13, 1998), Castor (May 18, 2000), and Marcella (January 17, 2002). Hetfield married his wife Francesca Tomasi on August 17, 1997.
During an interview on NPR's Fresh Air, Hetfield stated that his wife had helped him to mature and learn to deal with his anger issues more constructively, explaining that after they met, his destructive tendencies embarrassed both of them. The Hetfield family currently resides in Marin County, California.
While many of his lyrics (especially from the ...And Justice For All album) revolve around political or social themes, Hetfield has generally avoided speaking out about his political beliefs, especially in more recent years. In an August 4, 2008 interview with MTV, he states,
In a 1993 interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, when James was asked if he considered himself to be a libertarian, he replied, "I don't know what the isms are. I don't really fit into any political party. I'm pretty conservative on a lot of things. This new tax thing doesn't make sense to me. I don't know what the goal is. The middle-class people really suffer for it."»http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939967/james_hetfield_the_rolling_stone_interview/8
During Metallica's 2001 interview with Playboy Magazine, Hetfield, who is also an avid hunter, claimed to be against gun control»http://www.playboy.com/articles/metallica-interview/index.html?page=2. However, in aforementioned Rolling Stone interview, he also stated that he takes a decidedly pro-choice stance, a stance which few conservatives take or endorse.
The History Channel's 2009 presentation of "The People Speak" featured a piece on Dalton Trumbo's anti-war saga "Johnny Got His Gun" in the form of an excerpt reading by actor Josh Brolin. In 1988 Metallica's "One" music video utilized the film of the same name to emphasize their song's message. Also featured in this program were numerous well-known liberal actors and musicians such as Eddie Vedder and Matt Damon.»http://shop.history.com/?v=history_show_the-people-speak&nvbar=Show:The+People+Speak Similar anti-war themes have been explored by James through Metallica in songs such as 1986's "Disposable Heroes" as well.»http://www.metrolyrics.com/disposable-heroes-lyrics-metallica.html
During the mid-1990s, ESP produced the first of his signature model guitars. To date, Hetfield has had six signature guitars with the company. However, Hetfield most often uses guitars from Gibson and other companies instead of ESP despite his endorsement.
James Hetfield's current tour guitars:
The majority of his clean tones come from a Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus Guitar Amplifier.
Personal life
When he is not writing, singing or playing, Hetfield enjoys a variety of outdoor activities including hunting, skateboarding, snowboarding, water and jet-skiing; sketching, working in his garage customizing cars and motorcycles, watching his favorite football team the Oakland Raiders, and going to hot-rod shows.»http://www.metallica.com/Band/james.asp
Equipment
Guitars
Hetfield has been a major endorser of ESP Guitars since the 1980s, and is best known for playing custom-made Explorer-style guitars with an EMG 81EMG 60 set for pickups. Hetfield's main guitar from the early days was a Gibson Flying V copy made in Japan, used almost exclusively until about 1984 when he switched to the Gibson Explorer model.
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Amplifiers and cabinets
Throughout Metallica's career, Hetfield has used a range of different amplifiers. For the first two albums, he used Marshall amplifiers and cabinets, with occasional effects. For the recording of 1986's Master of Puppets, he and Kirk Hammett bought a Mesa/Boogie MarkIIC+ amplifier, and since then he has used Mesa/Boogies. Hetfield has been seen using a wide range of different amplifiers in the studio, and during live performances, he relies on several different amplifiers to recreate the sounds from the different amps he has used in the studio.
Effects
To avoid problems with pedals being damaged during live performances, Hetfield keeps his effect pedals in a rack along with his amplifiers and his tech controls them through a pedalboard sidestage. The pedal controller allows him to change between different effect pedals and amplifiers.
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