36 Facts About James Hetfield

James Alan Hetfield was born on August 3,1963 and is an American musician.

James Hetfield is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder and a primary songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica.

James Hetfield is mainly known for his intricate rhythm playing, but occasionally performs lead guitar duties and solos, both live and in the studio.

James Hetfield is often regarded as one of the greatest heavy metal rhythm guitar players of all time.

In 2009, James Hetfield was ranked at No 8 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists and No 24 by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All Time.

In Guitar World's poll, James Hetfield was placed as the 19th greatest guitarist of all time, as well as being placed second in The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists poll of the same magazine.

James Hetfield was born on August 3,1963, in Downey, California, the son of Cynthia Bassett, a light opera singer, and Virgil Lee James Hetfield, a truck driver.

James Hetfield is of English, German, Irish, and Scottish descent.

James Hetfield has two older half-brothers from his mother's first marriage and one younger sister.

James Hetfield's parents divorced in 1976 when Hetfield was 13.

Cynthia died of cancer in February 1980, when James Hetfield was 16 years old.

James Hetfield attended Downey High School for his freshman and sophomore years and graduated from Brea Olinda High School in 1981.

James Hetfield was nine years old when he first began piano lessons, after which he took on his half-brother David's drums and finally, at the age of 14, he began to play guitar with Robert Okner.

James Hetfield identifies Aerosmith as having been his main musical influence as a child, and has said they were the reason he wanted to play guitar.

James Hetfield writes the majority of the guitar harmonies, as well as writing the lyrics, vocal melodies, and co-arranging the songs with Ulrich.

James Hetfield's guitar protected him from the full force of the blast, but it struck his left side, burning his hand, arm, eyebrows, face and hair.

James Hetfield 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.

James Hetfield did basic warm-up exercises to piano keys with his vocal coach, who gave him a cassette tape of the piano warm-up for future use.

James Hetfield still uses the same cassette he was given in the early 1990s to this day before any live performance or any recording Metallica does.

James Hetfield rejoined the band after seven months in rehab and four months recovering with his family.

James Hetfield has been called "The King of Downpicking" for his right-hand picking speed by Annihilator guitarist Jeff Waters.

James Hetfield has explained he holds the pick with his thumb, index and middle fingers, rather than just the thumb and index, citing additional stability he gains by it.

James Hetfield married Francesca Tomasi on August 17,1997, and together they have three children.

James Hetfield's son Castor is a musician, playing for the Savannah, Georgia-based band Bastardane as their drummer.

James Hetfield made his first public appearance since leaving rehab at the Petersen Automotive Museum reception on January 30,2020.

James Hetfield enjoys a variety of activities, most notably hunting; farming and beekeeping; customizing cars and motorcycles in his garage; watching the Las Vegas Raiders, the San Francisco Giants, and the San Jose Sharks; and going to hot rod shows.

James Hetfield put his 1968 Chevrolet Camaro up for sale on eBay, with the proceeds going to a Music for Schools program.

James Hetfield has some Christian tattoos, including crosses and one of Jesus on his right arm.

James Hetfield has a tattoo of two razors forming the straight edge X symbol on his left wrist.

The first single James Hetfield ever bought was "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

James Hetfield was featured in a documentary called Absent, directed by Justin Hunt, which takes a look at the effects of absent fathers on their children and the "father wound" that they leave behind.

When James Hetfield was asked for his thoughts on climate change, he responded by saying:.

James Hetfield's main guitar from the early days was a Flying V copy made in Japan by Electra, which was modified with a Seymour Duncan Invader pickup and used almost exclusively until 1984 when he switched to the Gibson Explorer model.

However, James Hetfield often uses guitars from Gibson and other companies instead of ESP despite his endorsement.

The specific Marshall that he used for Kill 'Em All was stolen after a concert prior to the recording of Ride the Lightning; James Hetfield was extremely upset by the theft, as his mother had helped him purchase the amplifier before her death.

Around the time of St Anger, James Hetfield began using the Diezel VH4 head.