{"id":386028,"date":"2026-01-03T17:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T17:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/386028\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T17:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T17:43:09","slug":"the-one-guitarist-james-hetfield-called-the-main-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/386028\/","title":{"rendered":"The one guitarist James Hetfield called “the main man”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"James<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ Carlos Rodr\u00edguez \/ Andes)<\/p>\n

Sat 3 January 2026 11:18, UK <\/p>\n

Metallica frontman James Hetfield<\/a>, best known for being a vocalist, is a guitarist in his heart of hearts. While he only plays the rhythm role with his band, and Kirk Hammett is left to deal with their sound\u2019s more technically challenging aspects, Hetfield wouldn\u2019t be where he is today if he never picked up a guitar.<\/p>\n

At first, his journey to becoming a musician started with the piano, which is difficult to imagine considering the heavy rock he\u2019s built a career out of with Metallica. Hetfield was nine when he started learning how to navigate the keys, but after five years, it was time for him to move on to the guitar, and he\u2019s never looked back since.<\/p>\n

When Hetfield started playing the guitar, it was due to bands such as Aerosmith who had inspired him to start making rock music. However, after being exposed to Black Sabbath<\/a>, Hetfield devoted himself to replicating their loudness, which planted the seed for the formation of Metallica.<\/p>\n

For Hetfield, rhythm guitar was never a secondary role. It was the engine that drove everything forward, the place where songs either lived or collapsed. Long before Metallica became synonymous with speed and precision, Hetfield was learning how to lock into a groove and make weight feel physical, understanding that the most memorable heavy music often comes from restraint rather than excess.<\/p>\n

That focus shaped his identity as a songwriter just as much as his playing. Hetfield learned early that riffs were not simply introductions or transitions, but statements in their own right. By prioritising feel, repetition, and authority, he carved out a style that allowed Metallica\u2019s music to hit with maximum force without relying on constant technical fireworks.<\/p>\n

It was through his older brother that Hetfield discovered the pioneering British group, and they opened up his mind to sounds that he previously didn\u2019t know were possible to create. Furthermore, he had the privilege of inducting Black Sabbath into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, where he cast his mind back to hearing them for the first time, stating: \u201cThis was more than just music. (It was) a powerful, loud, heavy sound that moved his soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2015, Hetfield explained to Guitar World why Black Sabbath\u2019s Tony Iommi is his favourite guitarist of all time and explained how Iommi\u2019s music has transformed his life. \u201cAs far as being a riff-and-rhythm guy, my favourite guitarist is Tony Iommi. He inspired me to want to play heavy,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

Hetfield went on to say how he \u201cadmired other rhythm players\u201d such as AC\/DC\u2019s Malcolm Young, the Scorpions\u2019 Rudy Schenker and Rush\u2019s Alex Lifeson, but for him, nobody is in the same league as Iommi.<\/p>\n

He elaborated: \u201cBut Iommi is the main man. To me, he seemed like one of those quiet geniuses. At one time he was the frontman of Black Sabbath, and Ozzy was off to one side; at that time, the riff was more important than the vocals. Tony can go from the heaviest minor-key doom riff to a happy mode, and it will still sound heavy. Metallica can\u2019t do happy, but Tony can pull it off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without Iommi spearheading Black Sabbath and creating a new brand of rock, groups such as Metallica would never have been able to thrive. Although Hetfield\u2019s band<\/a> have discernible differences from Sabbath, the frontman is well aware of the importance of their musical forefathers, who paved the way for his career.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credits: Far Out \/ Carlos Rodr\u00edguez \/ Andes) Sat 3 January 2026 11:18, UK Metallica frontman James Hetfield,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,92831,7874,341],"class_list":{"0":"post-386028","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-james-hetfield","12":"tag-metallica","13":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}