James Hetfield

If it hadn't been for James Hetfield, there wouldn't have been Metallica — the most successful metal band in history. He is a permanent soloist and guitarist of the band since the day of its foundation. Together with the team he created, he entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was among the highest paid musicians according to Forbes magazine, and Rolling Stone included him in the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

James was born on August 3, 1963 in Downey, California, and was raised in the religious family of Virgil and Cynthia Hatfield. And if the father was far from giving the boy a creative example, because he worked as a bus driver, then the mother had a direct influence on the musician, being an opera singer. But the Metallica frontman recalls his childhood more with sadness: the divorce of his parents, which happened when the teenager was barely 13 years old, became an unhealed wound.

He stayed in the house for the elder and tried to support the deeply discouraged mother. The fact that the father simply left without saying goodbye added fuel to the fire, and for a long time the child still hoped for his return. As a result, the departure of the parent James regarded as a betrayal and admitted in an interview that this circumstance caused him a trauma that did not heal for many years. He felt abandoned, cheated, and not mature enough to become the mainstay of the family, which is not surprising at such a young age.

In addition, the very topic of divorce contradicted the Christian beliefs in which Hatfield was raised. The musician said that the dogmas of faith were rigidly imposed on him and over time began to cause irritation, but they were strictly adhered to in the family. In particular, medicine was considered an unacceptable business, and therefore the boy not only did not visit doctors, but also could not go to school in biology and anatomy.

This made him feel like a renegade, and peer ridicule only made matters worse. But the mother followed the precepts of religion and, when she fell ill herself, did not think about medical intervention. So at the age of 16, James experienced another trauma - the loss of his mother, who died of cancer. The performer subsequently creatively rethought these facts of his early biography and spoke about them in the songs Mama Said, Dyers Eve, The God That Failed and Until it Sleeps.

Music already in his youth helped the guy go through difficult times, because he had been playing instruments since he was nine years old. At first it was a piano, on which the son began to practice at the suggestion of his mother. The lessons that Hatfield took over three years gave Cynthia hope that her son would grow up to be a virtuoso. However, for James, playing music was more of a therapy: playing the piano, he immersed himself in himself and felt detached from the world.

He spent all his free time with headphones in his ears, listening to AC / DC, Kiss and Aerosmith. It was the Aerosmith concert in 1978 that became the first experience of listening to live rock music. By that time, James had already acquired long hair, and changed the piano first to drums, and then to guitar. Not imagining life without music, Hatfield began to make attempts to create his own group. At first it was Obsession, which gathered in a garage and covered Led Zeppelin and Ozzy Osbourne.

Even then, James met bassist Ron McGovney, with whom he later worked at Metallica. In the meantime, there were attempts to play and sing in Phantom Lord and Leather Charm, which ended in misunderstanding and the collapse of both groups. The fateful acquaintance with drummer Lars Ulrich, who came to the USA from Denmark. The guy has been a music lover since childhood, and has been playing the drum kit since he was 10. In 1981, friends founded the Metallica group.

"I am married to Metallica" - this phrase Hatfield has become catchy and can be misleading that the band replaced the musician's personal life. This is not at all the case. James' wife in 1997 was Francesca Tomasi, who gave birth to her wife of three children - Kayleigh (1998), Castor (2000) and Marcella (2002). The musician wears tattoos with their names on his body. The strength of this marriage was not compromised by the fact that the American suffered from alcoholism for as long as he can remember. Addiction began in early youth, when alcohol helped to cope with anxiety before going on stage.

Over time, it cost nothing to James, waking up and not getting out of bed, simply drain a bottle of vodka, and then sit down to write music. This did not seem to affect the quality of the original product, but the problems did not go away over the years, but only worsened.

In the early 2000s, Hatfield realized that he was seriously ill, and decided on treatment and a long rehabilitation program that lasted almost a year. The performer was motivated by his wife, who, according to him, kicked him out of the house with a kick in the ass.

During this time, the musician rethought life. The man was able to honestly look at himself, change his point of view on many things and set priorities in life. He suddenly realized that being a father and a family man is a great happiness. Spending time with his family, showing care and love has become an absolute must for him. Not to mention the fact that going on stage without the influence of "doping" presented new, previously unknown sensations.

Hatfield and Ulrich were, and still are, polar different people. However, this did not prevent them from creating a cult group and staying afloat for decades, maintaining the strength of the creative union. Over the years, Dave Mustaine and Jason Newsted have gone through Metallica, Cliff Burton caught fire and tragically died, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo joined the roster. And only James and Lars have been in the team since the day of foundation.

They experienced the first take-off, began to collect stadiums and reap the benefits of popularity, success and tragedy, recording cult albums, including The Black Album. And if Ulrich is the business core of Metallica, then James is its creative heart. With hits such as Nothing Else Matters and The Unforgiven, Hatfield pushed the boundaries of the genre, showing that heavy and powerful music can convey the subtle nuances of a suffering soul.

The group, created by James, became the most successful metal band, winning 9 Grammy awards, selling over 100 million records and entering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. By that time, the Metallica soloist had transformed from a hairy, always drunk guy into a wise man in an elegant suit, but at the same time retained a warm heart and a desire to create music that was strong, fresh and bursting with templates.

In the summer of 2019, Metallica fans were waiting for shocking news: after 19 years of "ties", their idol fell through. The most affected were the inhabitants of Australia and New Zealand, who were waiting for the group with concerts, which were canceled due to the soloist's alcohol breakdown. Hatfield had the courage to be honest about this.

Fans reacted to the problem of the musician with understanding. The contractor continues rehabilitation in 2020. By February, he had not yet fully recovered, which forced the band to cancel appearances at the Sonic Temple Festival and Louder Than Life. Hatfield has publicly apologized to fans on the band's official Instagram, promising that Metallica will play other concerts in 2020.

Judging by the latest photos, James looks pretty good now. The man no longer wears a beard and is in good physical shape - with a height of 186 cm, he weighs 86 kg. Listeners can only wait until the state of their idol stabilizes and his voice will again delight them with ageless hits.

1983 - Kill 'em All 1984 - Ride the Lightning 1986 - Master of Puppets 1988 -… And Justice for All 1991 - Metallica (The Black Album) 1996 - Load 1997 - Reload 2003 - St. Anger 2008 - Death Magnetic 2016 - Hardwired ... To Self-Destruct

James Hetfield 's estimated Net Worth, Salary, Income, Cars, Lifestyles & many more details have been updated below.

Let's check, How Rich is James Hetfield in 2020 ?

James Hetfield Net Worth 2021

James Hetfield 's revenue is $1.9M in 2021. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is James Hetfield and could vary in the range between $542.8K - $1.1M.

James Hetfield Net Worth 2020

James Hetfield 's revenue is $1.3M in 2020. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is James Hetfield and could vary in the range between $644.1K - $1.8M.

James Hetfield Net Worth 2019

James Hetfield 's revenue is $1.6M in 2019. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is James Hetfield and could vary in the range between $538K - $1M.

James Hetfield Net Worth 2018

James Hetfield 's revenue is $1.1M in 2018. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is James Hetfield and could vary in the range between $828.2K - $1.8M.

James Hetfield Net Worth 2017

James Hetfield 's revenue is $1.3M in 2017. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is James Hetfield and could vary in the range between $617.3K - $1.7M.

James Hetfield Net Worth 2016

James Hetfield 's revenue is $1.1M in 2016. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is James Hetfield and could vary in the range between $570.4K - $1.8M.

James Hetfield Net Worth 2015

James Hetfield 's revenue is $1.4M in 2015. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is James Hetfield and could vary in the range between $843.5K - $1.4M.

It is an overall forecast for the net worth of James Hetfield. The evaluation covers the latest 5 years and an approximation for next year. See above to learn how much money does James Hetfield make a year.

The range above shows an estimation based on evaluation generated by public information about sponsorships or other sources found on the internet. It's summarized data from James Hetfield' projects existing in AidWiki's repository. It's an approximation of the revenue compiled by AidWiki and may not correspond with the real amount.