Kirk Hammett: biography, success with Metallica, interesting facts

Before becoming the lead guitarist for the most famous heavy metal band of all time, Kirk Hammett was an active member of the burgeoning Bay Area thrash metal scene in the San Francisco Bay Area. And before he joined MetallicaHe also had time to prove himself in another band. Then came a string of successful albums and concerts around the world that made Hammett's name as one of the greatest metal soloists of the era. His signature style influenced the sound and success of the band, as well as many followers...

But Hammett is much more than that. Metallica guitarist. There are many fascinating moments from his personal life that even the most avid fans may not know about. Here's our top of them...

A lover of comic books and horror movies.

Who would have thought that one of the most snarling guitarists in rock is a dedicated connoisseur of... comics! This fun and youthful side of Kirk was revealed to the world in 1986, shortly after graduation ? "Master of Puppets". In his interview he said:

"Now I can buy the comics I've dreamed of since I was a kid. I can finally pay more attention to my own hobbies. When I was younger, I was always into comics, and I never had enough money to buy the Fantastic Four, for example."

In the same interview, Kirk emphasised that he finds his obsession with comics far more rewarding than blowing money on booze and substances. Who can blame him for thinking that way?

Another of Hammett's interesting hobbies are. horrors and everything that goes with it. So, the guitarist's house is full of horror collectibles... There are various film posters, figurines, paintings, masks and so on. He collects memorabilia from all sorts of horror films, but, by his own admission, he's particularly fond of the Dracula and Frankenstein! Kirk admitted that his obsession began in 1987 when he started collecting posters from iconic horror films of that era.

Another interesting fact is that it was his love of horror films that influenced Kirk's style of play! Well, at least he thinks so. The guitarist puts it this way:

"It is, but it's hard to explain. I just feel it..."

Since the topic is about hobbies... A guitarist who loves comic books, horror films and... surfing? Yeah, it seems like Kirk Hammett can never have too many hobbies! Surfing - one of his favourite activities. That's it!

One day he lost 250 song ideas

In 2019. Kirk Hammett told me that he had lost his phone and had been desperately searching for it for the past six months. But not because of contacts or personal photos... It turned out to be much more global: there were draft notes in that phone 250 song ideas! To make matters worse, he lost his precious phone just when the band was working on the new album....

"Out of all 250 riffs, I can remember about eight pieces, no more...". Kirk continued: "It was devastating for me. I had to start from scratch again, while everyone else had material for songs".

However, that didn't stop Hammett from taking a positive view of the situation. In particular, he learnt an important lesson and shared his wisdom with others:

"All musicians today use phones, right? So here you go, guys: don't forget to use your backup..."

He was involved in the creation of another influential group

Metallica was indeed the epicentre of the thrash metal scene of the early 1980s. Most fans are aware of how the members had to fire the scandaliser Dave Mastain and look for his replacement. And that's when their eyes turned to Kirk. But Hammett was not bored at the time: he was already part of another, in the future also very influential project - it was about Exodus. Today, Hammett fondly remembers his time with the project:

"It all started in high school, and we're all close to this day. In those days, we were just trying to find our sound. For months we would hang out in Gary's (Holt) garage playing covers and trying to write songs that were as good as the songs we were playing. But I really felt like Metallica was my calling! I just made my choice."

He thought Metallica were playing a prank on him.

The story goes that in 1983 Hammett received a phone call offering to join Metallica. Kirk was their admirerbut I thought the call was just a cruel joke. Why is that? Because the call was made 1 April - on Laughing Day! But despite his suspicions, Kirk still went to the audition - and it was the best decision of his life!

Regarding Exodushis departure left a big hole in the band. However, their other guitarist, Gary HoltExodus saw it as an opportunity to step forward and take creative control. As a result, Exodus has a loyal fan base.

UFO aficionado

UFO - a hard rock band that, despite some success in their career, never reached the heights of many of their contemporaries. However, that never stopped them from influencing generations of young rock musicians. In fact, their most famous fan is most likely to be Kirk Hammettwho has made no secret of his love for the band, and especially for their ex-guitarist to Michael Schenker:

"Hearing them for the first time, I was just amazed by this man's tone, phrasing and technique. From that moment on, I knew that there was a whole rock lexicon in which you could communicate with the public through strings..."

Perhaps Kirk's biggest and most important moment as a UFO fan happened in 2019. That's when he personally performed with his idols as part of the event Megacruise, playing a few of their tracks and essentially taking over the guitar duties of his favourite Schenker.....