Early life and family
James Hetfield was born on August 3, 1963, in Downey, Los Angeles County, California to a family of English, Irish, Scottish, and German descent.
James' father, Virgil (a truck driver who later left the family) and mother, Cynthia (a light opera singer) were devout and 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 medical treatment and remained loyal to their faith even as Cynthia was dying from cancer. Parts of the song "Leper Messiah" from Master of Puppets is about his mother and her faith during cancer.
Musical influences
Cynthia's death and James' subsequently turbulent relationship with religion have both been the focal point of many Metallica lyrics throughout the years - the songs "Mama Said", "Dyers Eve" and "The God That Failed," are about Hetfield's parents, and "Until It Sleeps" is about cancer.
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, James began to learn to play guitar.
James identifies Aerosmith as having been his main musical influence as a child, and has said that they were the reason why he wanted to play guitar. Other bands such as Motörhead, Black Sabbath, Diamond Head, Iron Maiden, Queen, Led Zeppelin and Thin Lizzy also had a major influence on his musical tastes.
Pre-Metallica Bands
Hetfield formed his first band, Obsession, when he was in his early teens. The members of Obsession were:
Obsession spent much time in the Veloz brothers' garage jamming, with Ron McGovney and Dave Marrs acting as roadies. Marrs and McGovney subsequently joined the band itself when the Veloz brothers quit.
After the death of his mother, James moved to Brea, California where he attended Brea Olinda High School and met up with drummer Jim Mulligan. The two jammed during lunch breaks, scaring fellow pupils with their loud and heavy music.
Hetfield's next band Phantom Lord was born with Tanner on guitar, Mulligan on drums, and Hetfield singing and playing guitar. The group went through a few bass players until graduation, when Hetfield moved back to Downey.
Once back in Downey, Hetfield moved into a house owned by McGovney's parents that was slated for demolition due to an expressway expansion.
Hetfield talked McGovney into playing bass guitar, Phantom Lord disbanded, and then the third band under Hetfield's leadership, Leather Charm, was born. Hetfield no longer played guitar, McGovney played bass guitar, while Tanner and Mulligan retained their former Phantom Lord positions.
Leather Charm was largely a hard rock combo which played a few originals along with covers of songs such as Iron Maiden's "Remember Tomorrow". Hetfield would later go on to perform "Remember Tomorrow" with Metallica in 2008.
The band performed at a few parties and recorded a demo, but then began to fall apart.
Tanner left the band, to be replaced by Troy James, then Mulligan left for a more progressive, Rush-like band.
Without a drummer, the rest of the band decided to call it quits. It was Mulligan's departure that led to Hetfield searching for a new drummer. It was through a classified ad in a local newspaper, The Recycler, that Hetfield would meet Lars Ulrich. The two would form Metallica in 1981.
Metallica (1981-present)
In the early days of Metallica, Metallica experimented with a few different vocal/guitar configurations. 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 famous rock and roll lifestyle sparked heated altercations between him and Hetfield. Mustaine also once poured beer into 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. 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", the outro solo on "The Outlaw Torn", the second solo on "To Live Is to Die", the second solo on "Orion" 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 well-known 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 recovered.
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. During a concert supporting Metallica's Black Album, James blew his voice box out singing the cover song "So What" while still having a lot of Metallica songs to play, 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 endevours in the Metallica documentary film, Some Kind of Monster produced & directed by Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky. During the recording of the St. Anger album (2002-2003), Hetfield went into rehab to address his alcohol addiction. Hetfield had long-standing issues with alcohol and the band's alcoholic tendencies had earned them the nickname "Alcoholica" by the music press. 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 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.
Although St. Anger was seen by many as the weakest Metallica album to date, Hetfield, and the rest of Metallica, along with their new bassist, Robert Trujillo have addressed their many issues, and are continuing to make music. 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.
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.
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 (13 June 1998), Castor (18 May 2000), and Marcella (17 January 2002). Hetfield married his wife Francesca Tomasi on August 17, 1997. She is from Argentina. Francesca worked security in Denver but she wanted to travel, so she went on the road with Metallica as one of their wardrobe people.
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, CA.
