| Full name | James Alan Hetfield |
| Describes himself as | Rugged and stubborn yet honest |
| What he does in Metallica | Vocals and guitars. James is responsible for majority of the guitar work. He plays the rhythm guitar and most melody and harmony guitars, including acoustics and the occasional guitar solo. Kirk's is responsible for the full-blown lead guitar solos. But in the latest Metallica albums both James and Kirk have played rhythm and also leads. James also created the original Metallica logo and is responsible for the new 4M star logo. |
| Born | 3rd August 1963 in Los Angeles, California |
| Colour of hair | Blonde |
| Colour of eyes | Blue |
| Height | 6’1" |
| Weight | 82 Kgs |
| Marital Status | James married his long time girlfriend, Francesca on 17th August 1997 Their daughter, Cali Tee was born on 13th June 1998 |
| Favourite food | Mexican, Meat-n-Potatoes, Bar-B-Que, Oysters and Beer |
| Favourite drinks | He now no longer drinks alcoholic beverages. He can now be found sipping Non-Alcoholic Beer and mineral water. |
| Smokes | Fuente Hemingway Short Stories cigars |
| Favourite Accessories | A skull ring that formerly belonged to Cliff and a wolf pendant, both were bought originally at "The Great Frog" in London |
| Favourite hobbies | An avid hunter and sportsman. Likes skateboarding, snowboarding, wave boarding and street hockey. Rumours are that past tour contracts have included a "NO SKATEBOARDING" clause as a preventive measure. So, James has taken up Snowboarding which is believed to be less risky. |
| Music influences | Motorhead, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Ted Nugent, Tom Waits, Skynyrd Spagetti and Nick Cave |
| Present Music favourites | Rocket From The Crypt, Gov't Mule and Corrosion Of Conformity |
| Favourite Movies | The Good The Bad and The Ugly, Sling Blade, Pulp Fiction, Easy Rider and Vanishing Point |
| Favourite heroes | Clint Eastwood and Pops Hetfield |
| Favourite Sport teams | A lifelong, die-hard Oakland Raiders fan, San Jose Sharks and D.C. United |
| Vehicles | Dodge Ram pick-up, 1955 Chevy BelAir hot rod, Chevy Blazer and a custom-built Harley Davidson Motorcycle (chopper) |
| Favourite guns | Remington 30-06, Weatherby 7mm and a Browning 300 Magnum |
| Jobs before METALLICA | Worked in a sticker factory, as a high school janitor and as a mover |
| Bands before METALLICA | Obsession, Phantom lord, Leather Charm and Spastic Children |
| Other Recordings besides Metallica | James did backing vocals for "Twist of Cain" and "Am I Demon?" on Danzig's first album. Also sang Guest Vocals on "Man Or Ash" from Corrosion of Conformity's 1996 "Wiseblood" album and on Jim Martin's solo album. |
| Equipment | Plays ESP Explorer and flying V guitar's with EMG pick ups and Ernie Ball strings, Mesa Boogie Tri-Axis (crunch) and Roland Jazz Chorus (clean) are James' main set up. James uses many different guitar/amp combo's for different sounds in the studio. |
| First song James learned on guitar | Flight Of The Bumble Bee |
| Injuries | Left wrist and 2 broken knuckles. Compound fractures on the left forearm with a total of 156 stitches. Seriously injured in the head while hunting which required 40 stitches. He then got his hair cut before the release of the Load Album. ). He was also burned in a pyro mishap in 1992. |
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