Recipe for Success 2020: James Hetfield

Image of James Hetfield from Ultimate Classic Rock, https://ultimateclassicrock.com/james-hetfield-rehab-support/

Born: August 3, 1963, in Downey, California

Personal Success Definition

When I think of success, I think of someone who started from nothing, rose to greatness, and always stays humble and gives back. James Hetfield has embodied that since day one. He helped found Metallica, which made their big splash in 1984 with Ride the Lightning and really broke in with Master of Puppets in 1986. But he has always given back to the community in Cali with the All Within My Hands foundation.

Skills for Success

James Hetfield is 1) an outstanding guitarist, 2) an amazing frontman, and 3) extremely durable and able to withstand anything thrown his way. He started out mainly as a lead singer, but took up rhythm guitar as well after a search for one to join Metallica failed. His unique playing style of mostly “downpicking” has influenced guitarists around the world and to this day remains a pioneer in the metal industry. Not to mention all of the injuries he has had.

How He Used These Skills


James Hetfield Guitar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_
Hetfield#/media/File:ESP_Iron_Cross_James_Hetfield_2014_
Electric_Guitar_w_case_(1).JPG

Hetfield and co-founding bandmate Lars Ulrich willed Metallica to prominence with Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, and Metallica, while still continuing to put out outstanding music.

Challenges Overcome

Hetfield has had so many injuries it rivals some NFL players’ injury lists. “Hetfield has been involved in a number of onstage accidents, most notable for being an incident with pyrotechnics at Olympic Stadium in Montreal during the Guns N’ Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour on August 8, 1992. Hetfield was the victim of a pyrotechnics accident during the song “Fade to Black”, in which a pyrotechnic charge reacted. Hetfield’s guitar protected him from the full force of the blast; however, the reaction struck his left side, burning his hand, arm, eyebrows, face and hair. He suffered second and third-degree burns, but was back on stage 17 days later, although his guitar duties were delegated to former guitar tech and Metal Church guitarist John Marshall for four weeks while he made a full recovery.[15] Hetfield also suffered a broken arm a number of times while skateboarding, which prevented him from playing guitar on stage, and subsequently caused Hetfield’s management company, Q Prime, to put a clause in Hetfield’s contract, forbidding him to ride a skateboard while Metallica was touring.[16] During a live performance on tour for Metallica, Hetfield experienced complications with his vocals after performing a cover of the Anti-Nowhere League song “So What?“, forcing him to take vocal lessons for the first time. He did basic warm-up exercises to piano keys with his vocal coach, who also gave him a cassette tape of the piano warm-up for future use. Hetfield still uses the same cassette he was given in the early 1990s to this day before any live performance or any recording Metallica does” – Wikipedia. And yet Hetfield is still standing and going strong.

Significant Work

Metallica is most famous for their song “Enter Sandman” but Hetfield wrote the song “Nothing Else Matters” off of that same album and is also extremely popular with fans.

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hetfield

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hetfield#/media/File:ESP_Iron_Cross_James_Hetfield_2014_Electric_Guitar_w_case_(1).JPG

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *