James Hetfield

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James Hetfield (2017)

James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963 in Downey , California ) is an American singer , rhythm guitarist and one of the songwriters of the metal band Metallica , which he co-founded in 1981.

life and career

James Alan Hetfield is the son of trucker Virgil Hetfield and his wife, Cynthia Hetfield, an opera singer. The parents were members of Christian Science . Both parents developed cancer and refused medical treatment because of their religious beliefs. Cynthia Hetfield died of her illness in 1979, and the religious community forbade James Hetfield to mourn his mother. These experiences shaped Hetfield's attitude to Christian fundamentalism and are reflected in his later songs such as The God that Failed or The Unforgiven . Virgil Hetfield succumbed to cancer in 1996 in the presence of his son James.

James Hetfield took piano lessons at the age of nine . Then he started playing his older brother David's drums before he discovered the guitar for himself. With the newly discovered love for the guitar and the band Obsession , Hetfield set himself the goal of becoming a rock star. The band consisted of the Veloz brothers on bass and drums and Jim Arnold also on guitar. His friends Ron McGovney and Dave Marrs became the band's technicians.

After moving to Brea , James went to high school there. There he met the drummer Jim Mulligan and the guitarist Hugh Tanner. With them he formed his second band, Phantom Lord . After graduating from high school, James went back to Downey, where he moved in with Ron McGovney. James taught Ron to play the bass and persuaded him to join Phantom Lord . Shortly thereafter, Phantom Lord was renamed Leather Charm . James recorded his first demo with the group . Eventually the band slowly began to break up after drummer Mulligan quit.

At that time, Danish drummer Lars Ulrich ran a newspaper ad in 1981 to find band members. Hetfield was the only one who answered this ad. However, one could not agree on a band formation. The two only got back together a year later, when Ulrich pushed for a band to merge. Eventually the band Metallica was formed, and Hetfield's career continued to develop.

During the recordings for the album St. Anger from 2001, Hetfield was admitted to a rehab clinic to treat his alcohol addiction . He was released from the clinic after eleven months and continued working on the album. Hetfield said he was dry and determined to stay that way. This phase was captured in the documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster . In 2019, a planned tour to Australia and New Zealand had to be canceled because Hetfield had relapsed and had to seek treatment.

James Hetfield is married to Francesca, who was born in Argentina , and has three children, whose names he bears as a tattoo on his chest. He is a member of the National Rifle Association , passionate trophy hunters and spokesman for the documentary series The Hunt of the History Channel , where it comes to hunting from Kodiak bear goes.

Artistically influenced him, among others, Black Sabbath , Ted Nugent , The Misfits , Diamond Head , Rush , Kiss , Iron Maiden , Angel Witch and Motörhead .

Controversial statement about torture in Guantanamo Bay

In 2008, in an interview with 3sat , Hetfield was confronted with a rumor that, among other things, songs by Metallica were used to torture inmates in Guantanamo Bay prison . Hetfield is amused and proud that those responsible have chosen his band's songs and says that the band tries to be as apolitical as possible.

Songwriting at Metallica

Hetfield on stage

Together with drummer Lars Ulrich, Hetfield is involved in the final version of all Metallica pieces, other band members only made partial contributions before the album St. Anger . The only exception to this rule is Cliff Burton's bass solo piece Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth) on Kill 'Em All . Until 2003, all of the lyrics were from his pen.

Hetfield dealt with his parents' cancer deaths in many songs. He grew up in a strict Christian Science family. Some followers of Christian Science forego medical help because they expect help and healing from God. He processed that in The God That Failed . He suffers greatly from the fact that his parents, who both died of cancer, did not want medical help and therefore died very soon. In the song Until It Sleeps , Hetfield sings about the devious cancer and in Mama Said he laments the early loss of his mother, who died when he was only sixteen. The play Leper Messiah denounces greedy (sect) preachers.

In 2011 the Rolling Stone listed Hetfield 87th of the 100 best guitarists of all time .

Play style

James Hetfield is known as a rhythmically very precise guitarist and is known for playing fast eighth riffs like in Master of Puppets, not alternating beats , but with constant downstroke picking , which places great demands on the condition of the instrumentalist.

“It was always a kind of contest - who could down-pick the fastest - and mostly it was a battle between me and Lars, actually. It's a hard thing to do well, because your timing has got to be dead on. If you're playing eighth or sixteenth notes then you've got to get cooking. A lot of practice is called for to build up your strength. A lot of wanking too! "

“It was always a kind of competition - about who could pick the fastest - and mostly it was basically a fight between me and Lars. It's difficult to get this right because your timing has to be right. When you play eighth or sixteenth notes, you have to make an effort. It takes a lot of practice to build strength. And also a lot of wanking! "

- James Hetfield : at Musicradar.com

Although he is the rhythm guitarist at Metallica, Hetfield can occasionally be heard as a soloist on studio recordings (e.g. with Nothing Else Matters and Turn the Page ) and often plays polyphonic, even faster sections with lead guitarist Kirk Hammett .

Just like Hammett Hetfield has an ESP Guitars - Endorsement and has run several signature models make, among other things, in the style of Gibson Explorer - Gibson Flying V - and Gibson Les Paul guitars. In addition to the ESP instruments, he also uses Gibson models, among others.

Guest appearances and solo

Hetfield has performed in concerts with the following bands:

He played with the following bands in the studio:

  • Danzig : "Twist of Cain" (background vocals)
  • Danzig: "Possession" & "Am I Demon?" (Background vocals)
  • Corrosion of Conformity : "Man or Ash" (background vocals)
  • Jim Martin (former guitarist of Faith No More ): "Milk & Blood" (background vocals)
  • Primus : "Eclectic Electric" on the album Antipop (together with Jim Martin and Primus)
  • Gov't Mule : "Drivin Rain" (for the album Crank it up! Nascar FOX soundtrack)

He recorded the following songs solo

  • Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Gone Out Of Hand (recorded for the Waylon Jennings tribute album I've always been crazy )

In addition to various guest appearances, Hetfield also played a long time in the band Spastik Children as a drummer, in which Cliff Burton (then bassist for Metallica) was also represented.

He also sang in the movie for US comic series South Park , the piece Little Boy, You're Going to Hell .and came in 2019, even in the minor role of Officer Bob Hayward Joe Berlingers feature film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile about the serial killer Ted Bundy up.

Individual evidence

  1. MVL: Metallica singer James Hetfield - history. In: Spiegel Online . August 1, 2013, accessed May 10, 2020 .
  2. Metallica: A Biography (Chapter 1). (No longer available online.) In: Musikmagazin.at. March 21, 2007, archived from the original on February 17, 2009 ; Retrieved August 27, 2009 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmagazin.at
  3. mbö / dpa: Metallica: Tour in Australia and New Zealand postponed. In: Spiegel Online . September 28, 2019, accessed May 10, 2020 .
  4. ^ Glastonbury: Animal rights activists launch petition to ban Metallica . theguardian.com
  5. Welcome to 'the disco' . telegraph.co.uk
  6. Interview with James Hetfield September 4, 2008. 3Sat, accessed June 10, 2018 .
  7. Hetfield On Use Of Metallica's Music To Torture Guantanamo Bay Prisoners: 'Part Of Me Is Proud'. Retrieved June 12, 2018 .
  8. 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Rolling Stone , December 18, 2015, accessed August 8, 2017 .
  9. musicradar.com
  10. Jeff Kitts: Prime Cuts: John Christ. Guitar School, July 1994, accessed July 16, 2019 .
  11. ^ Kory Grow: Glenn Danzig: Democrats are fascists disguised as liberals. (No longer available online.) In: City Pages. August 13, 2013, archived from the original ; accessed on July 16, 2019 .
  12. James Hetfield in the Internet Movie Database (English)Template: IMDb / Maintenance / Unnecessary use of parameter 2

Web links

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