KIRK HAMMETT
Kirk Hammett does not fit the criteria of the traditional axe hero. Slight of build, with a baby face surrounded by black locks and a wispy beard, he doesn't really resemble a Slash or a Keith Richards. Nope, Hammett has the job for all the right reasons: the grinding riffs, ripping licks and shreding solos he pulls off night after night on tour, and across Metallica's greatest recorded moments.While Hetfield and Ulrich are embraced by the media as the fighting figureheads of the band, Kirk Hammett and Jason Newsted quietly get on with the job of making Metallica the giant, bellowing beast that it is. While Hammett is not limelight hogger, pick up any muso mag with with a poil for top guitarist in it and you'll always see his name near as dammit at the top of the list. His secret is a simple one. He never overplays, unlike so many of the other much-admired lead players. You'll find Hammett taking each song, each riff, each solo on its own merits; he'll plug the space with just the right amount of flash fingerburn or ear-endangering heaviness.
Kirk Hammett was born on November 18, 1962 in the Mission district of San Francisco, one of the less desirable parts of the city. He attended school with Primus's main man Les Claypool. Hammett was into music from a very young age, being just old enough to catch the back end of the hippy explosion for which San Francisco was so famous in the late Sixties. Hendrix, Santana and the Grateful Dead were the early influences, along with the prerequisite band Led Zeppelin.Hammett began his six-string education at the age of 15, pulling in his hippy influences along with those of Aerosmith adn Thin Lizzy, plus the burgeoning new metal scene, and the illiterate fury of punk rock. His first band was a garage outfit called Mesh, and he fooled around with several others before getting serious with Bay Area blasters Exodus.Hammett was unaware that the band he supported at the Waldorf [Metallica] were having serious problems with their talented axeman Dave Mustaine. For their part, Metallica had already spotted Hammett's potential, and were quick to summon him from San Fancisco to the East Coast just as soon as Mustaine had received his marching orders. Obviously aware of metallica's huge potential and burgeoning reputation, Hammett did not take too long to jump the Exodus ship and join up.
