Career Kirk Hammett

1 career

1.1 exodus (1979–1983)
1.2 metallica (1983–present)
1.3 other appearances

career
exodus (1979–1983)

hammett s musical interests drew him fledgling thrash metal genre. in 1979, formed band exodus @ age of sixteen, along vocalist paul baloff, guitarist gary holt, bassist geoff andrews, , drummer tom hunting. hammett named exodus after leon uris novel of same name, , played on band s 1982 demo. exodus influential band in bay area thrash movement.

metallica (1983–present)

in may 1983, metallica traveled rochester, new york record debut album, metal ass. due lead guitarist s (dave mustaine) substance abuse , violent tendencies, fired band, , form band megadeth. hammett received phone call metallica same afternoon. though had never left california before, hammett gathered money , flew out new york audition. according james hetfield: - first song played seek , destroy , , kirk pulled off solo, , like...things going alright! ; kirk instantly asked join band. of happened prior recording of kill em all. @ time, hammett taking private lessons guitar virtuoso joe satriani. still member of exodus @ time offered join metallica, , although offer may have come surprise him, acquainted metallica. while in exodus, hammett had shared stage metallica on more 1 occasion.

hammett performing live in mexico in 2010

hammett has written number of riffs metallica since ride lightning (the band s second album). 1 of riffs used on enter sandman - went on become 1 of metallica s popular songs. first track , first single on band s self-titled album metallica (also known black album), , ranked 399th on rolling stone s list of 500 greatest songs of time. bridge creeping death exodus riff hammett took him metallica.

in 1986, during band s european leg of tour support master of puppets, hammett , bassist cliff burton had dispute on sleeping arrangements on band s tour bus. outcome of dispute decided card draw, burton won picking ace of spades. once draw completed, burton looked @ hammett , said want bunk , hammett complied, saying might able sleep better in front of bus anyway. in hours of following morning, metallica s tour bus slid off road , overturned in sweden. burton thrown through window of bus, fell on top of burton , subsequently killed him. hammett has stated in interview once thought ve been him killed instead, since burton sleeping in considered hammett s bunk.

between end of touring (and promoting) black album , start of touring in promotion of load, studied @ san francisco state university, focusing on film , asian arts. hammett went through blues period around time - had influence on metallica s load , reload albums. began listening lot of jazz music. hammett described period of life great education , because able discover of own rock influences had gotten own guitar licks. however, though jazz music had profound effect on improvisation skills , solos, hammett felt delving deep genre. since death magnetic, hammett has gone being metal guitarist, of experiences of jazz , blues music still remain.

kirk hammett , james hetfield live in london 24 october 2017

hammett wanted have guitar solos on metallica s 2003 album, st. anger, drummer lars ulrich , producer bob rock thought solos did not sound right in songs. later admitted himself, tried put in solos sounded afterthought left them out . recording st. anger halted in 2001; metallica front-man james hetfield enter rehab alcohol abuse. due tensions within band (which well-documented in metallica documentary kind of monster) @ time, hammett expressed interest in working on solo album. according hammett, if ever worked on solo album, wouldn t super-duty heavy metal, , may include classical guitarists. when asked experiences of recording st. anger, hammett said:

honestly, ready start working on solo album. had bunch of music sitting on. going ask lars [metallica s drummer] play drums on it.

on april 4, 2009, hammett, along metallica bandmates lars ulrich, james hetfield, , robert trujillo , former metallica bandmates jason newsted , deceased cliff burton, inducted rock , roll hall of fame. in 2009, hammett provided foreword british author joel mciver s book live die: life , death of metallica s cliff burton.

in april, 2015, hammett admitted losing phone - contained 250 new ideas metallica s upcoming studio release. incident happened 6 months prior admission (around november 2014). phone wasn t backed , hammett can remember 8 out of 250 ideas had. on subject, hammett said:

for me, music comes @ times of day. when riff, s complete riff , can play , there is, s half riff , have tweak it. s rhythm or note selection. or s hum in head. can come anywhere, , put on phone, , make sure phone f***ing backed up.

other appearances

he appeared on kichigai e.p. punk band septic death. played additional lead guitar on title track.

hammett can seen in background in primus john fisherman video fishing off of les claypool s boat. hammett has been friends primus bassist , lead vocalist les claypool since childhood. claypool auditioned metallica after tragic death of cliff burton.

hammett played guitar on track satan orbital spawn: album soundtrack released in july 1997.

hammett plays guitar solo on pansy division s song headbanger appears on ep suck cock lookout records 1996

in 2005, hammett featured playing guitar roles on carlos santana track trinity alongside steel-pedal guitarist, robert randolph. santana asked hammett contribute then-upcoming album am. hammett worked santana in 2001 @ live show benefit in san francisco. metallica had invited santana studio while recording st. anger.

in 2006, hammett voiced himself on simpsons ( mook, chef, wife , homer ). provided various voices on adult swim show metalocalypse, including 2 fingered fan ( curse of dethklok ), queen of denmark ( happy dethday ), , finnish barkeep ( dethtroll ).

hammett appeared guest in episode of space ghost coast coast titled jacksonville , alongside fellow metallica member james hetfield.

he appeared guest guitarist on k naan s 2006 song if rap gets jealous off of troubadour album.

after performing set metallica @ bonnaroo in june 2008, hammett played 1 song morning jacket , couple songs annual superjam collaboration, included les claypool , members of gogol bordello playing tom waits songs.

hammett 1 of main characters in guitar hero: metallica, along rest of current line-up of metallica.

in 2010, hammett played nicolas abou chedid on chedid s solo album.

in 2011, hammett appeared in episode of jon benjamin has van actor , guitarist.