James Alan Hetfield is a famous American rock star who was born on August 3, 1963. He’s the frontman for Metallica, as well as a co-founder and primary composer for the band and a rhythm guitarist. Though his forte is sophisticated rhythm work, he also takes on lead guitar responsibilities and solos on occasion, both in concert and in the studio. In October of 1981, Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, the band’s drummer, placed an ad in The Recycler newspaper in Los Angeles. Metallica has published 10 studio albums, three live albums, four extended plays, and twenty-four singles, in addition to winning nine Grammy Awards. Hetfield is widely considered to be one of the best heavy metal rhythm guitarists of all time.

Both Joel McIver’s book “The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists of All Time” and Hit Parader’s “100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All Time” put Hetfield highly in 2009. Hit Parader placed Hetfield at No. 24. Guitar World ranked Hetfield as the 19th best guitarist of all time, and the magazine’s list of the 100 greatest metal guitarists ranked him second (tied with Metallica’s lead guitarist Kirk Hammett). The magazine Rolling Stone ranked him as the 87th best guitarist of all time.