Early life (1962-1980)
Born on November 18, 1962 in San Francisco to a Filipina mother (Chefela) and an Irish Merchant Marine father. He grew up in El Sobrante, California and has a younger sister, Tawny. Kirk Hammett attended De Anza High School in Richmond, California.
As a child and teenager, Kirk Hammett showed great interest in his older brother Rick's extensive collection of guitars, Rickenbacker basses and hard rock records, including material by Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Queen, Status Quo, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and UFO. One of his biggest musical influences was Jimi Hendrix, and Hammett was quoted as saying he wanted to be Hendrix. Hammett has also been known to perform parts of Hendrix's songs during his guitar solos.
After picking up a 1978 Fender Stratocaster, Hammett attempted to customize his sound with various guitar parts, eventually falling for a 1974 Gibson Flying V. He also took a job at Burger King to raise money for a Marshall amplifier.
Exodus (1980-1983)
Hammett's musical interests eventually drew him into the fledgling thrash metal genre. In 1980, he formed the group Exodus with vocalist Paul Baloff, guitarist Gary Holt, bassist Geoff Andrews, and drummer Tom Hunting. He played on Exodus' 1982 Demo. Exodus was a crucial early player in the Bay Area thrash movement.
Metallica (1983-Present)
Hammett was invited to join Metallica following the dismissal of the band's original lead guitarist Dave Mustaine in 1983. This was prior to the release of Kill 'Em All. At the time Hammett was taking private guitar lessons from the now-famous Joe Satriani.
Hammett has written and contributed riffs for Metallica songs since the mid-1980s (particularly in the 1990s during the Load era). One of these riffs, used in "Enter Sandman", was written in a hotel room at 3:15 am, and became one of Metallica's most popular songs. It was the first track and first single on Metallica's self-titled "Black Album" and was ranked 399th on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
The bridge for "Creeping Death" was originally an Exodus riff that Hammett took with him to Metallica.
Hammett is also known for always having his picking hand taped up. During the course of a full tour, due to constantly palm muting and fast picking, the back of his hand takes sizable abuse.
Hammett's playing style is noted for his extensive use of the wah-wah pedal in his solos. Hammett says "The wah-wah is an extension of my personality." He also once said, "They'll have to cut off my leg if they want me to stop using the wah-wah pedal." Hammett's use of the wah-pedal hadn't been featured in recent Metallica solos, but has seen a resurgence in his solos on the newest album, Death Magnetic.
Hammett initially wanted to have guitar solos on Metallica's 2003 album, St. Anger, but drummer Lars Ulrich and producer Bob Rock thought that the solos did not sound right in the songs. He later admitted himself, "We tried to put in solos but they sounded like an afterthought so we left them out".
Personal life
Hammett has been married twice. His first marriage to ex-wife Rebecca lasted only 3 years, having ended in 1990, during the recording of the Black Album, which consumed the band members' lives for almost an entire year.
Hammett now resides in Hawaii with Lani, his second wife, whom he married in 1998. They have two sons, Angel Ray Keala Hammett (September 29, 2006) and Vincenzo Kainalu Hammett (June 28 2008).
Hammett's interests include surfing, cooking, horses, archaeology, cars, science fiction magazines and collecting horror film memorabilia.
Kirk also commented recently on the T3 gadget website in their audio interview that he was previously addicted to video games, stating that the addiction resulted in the loss of eating, social interaction and guitar.
