James Hetfield

James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963 in Downey, California, United States) is the Rhythm Guitarist, co-founder, main songwriter, and Lead Vocalist for the American Thrash Metal band Metallica. Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after answering a classified advertisement by drummer Lars Ulrich in a Los Angeles newspaper, searching for band mates. Since then, Metallica has earned nine Grammy Awards and gone on to release nine studio albums, three live albums, four EPs, 24 Music Videos, and 45 singles. In 2009, Hetfield was ranked number 8 in Joel Mclver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists. Hetfield was also ranked twenty-fourth by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All Time.

Years Active

 * 1978 - Present

Associated Acts

 * Metallica
 * Spastik Children
 * Leather Charm

With Metallica:

 * All Metallica Releases

Guitars

 * ESP - Truckster, Iron Cross, Explorer, Flying V, The Grynch, Snakebyte, Viper, Eclipse, F
 * Gibson - Explorer, Flying V, Les Paul, EDS, SG, Moderne, Firebird
 * Fender - Telecaster, Stratocaster
 * Jackson - King V
 * Line 6 - Variax
 * James Trussart - Explorer, DeVille
 * Ken Lawrence - Explorer, Les Paul
 * Zemaitis - GZ, CustomJames-hetfield-metallica.jpg