James Alan Hetfield & Kirk Lee Hammett

James Alan Hetfield was born August 3, 1963 in Downey, California. James is the main songwriter, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and a founding member of Metallica.

Kirk Lee Hammett was born on November 18, 1962 in San Francisco. Kirk is the lead guitarist for Metallica.

Hetfield was 9 years old when he started piano lessons; He also played on his brother David's drums and eventually picked up a guitar at the age of 14.
Hetfield formed his first band, Obsession, in his early teens.




He moved to Brea, California, after the death of his mother. In High School James formed another band Phantom Lord. Just after high school Jams Met Lars Ulrich, and formed Metallica which had a few different line-ups in the early stages including Dave Mustaine
(of Megadeth) on guitar.

James has been a major endorsee of ESP guitars since 1991, and is best known for playing custom-made Explorer-style guitars with an EMG 81/EMG 60 set for pickups.

As a child Kirk Hammett had great interest in his brother Rick's extensive collection of guitars and hard rock records. He started playing guitar at the age of 15 beginning with a Montgomery Ward catalog special. Kirk even took a job at Burger King to raise money to buy a Marshall amplifier.

Hammett's musical interests drew him into the thrash metal genre. In 1982, he formed the group Exodus and played on their 1982 Demo. Exodus was a crucial early player in the Bay Area thrash movement.
In 1983, Hammett was invited to join Metallica after the dismissal of Dave Mustaine for substance abuse, just before Metallica was to record its first album, Kill 'Em All. At the time Hammett was taking private guitar lessons from now famous Joe Satriani.

Together James and Kirk would sell more than 57 million albums in the U.S. and more than 90 million world wide while re-defining Heavy Metal music with their unique guitar performances.

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James Alan Hetfield & Kirk Lee Hammett