Biography of James Hetfield, the Composer

James Hetfield is a highly popular composer that started writing in the 80s, and he is a member of the band Metallica. James was born August 3, 1963 and has two half-brothers and a sister. James was inspired by music at a small age. His mother was a light opera singer and his dad was a truck driver. His parents were very strict Christian Scientists and didn’t believe in medicine/medical science. This type of upbringing became the inspiration to James’ music. When he was 9 years old, he started piano lessons. After piano lessons, he learned how to play drums, and then eventually learned the guitar. His main musical inspiration came from Aerosmith. He also liked other bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and many more and that encouraged him to form is own band. In 1979, when James was 16 years old, his mother died of cancer and he went to live with his step brother. In 1981, he and band mate Lars Ulrich started the band Metallica. In 1991, he wrote a song about his mother’s death and called it “The God That Failed”. All the songs that James wrote were from personal experiences.
Metallica became quite an inspiration for many bands. Companies wanted Metallica and the type of music they wrote. Their music made a mark in major acts like Dream Theater and Fates Warning. They influenced many bands because at least two of their early albums are considered by most prog-metal experts as pioneering efforts in the genre and arguably progressive-metals first real album. Metallica’s first four albums were amongst the most forward-thinking in metals history. The more albums they released the more rock sounding they’ve become.
Early Metallica releases had fast tempos, harmonized leads, and nine-minute instrumentals. It was said that Metallica expanded it compositional technique and range of expression to take on an aggressive approach in their later releases. Their lyrics were more personal and socially conscious on the hot topics. One of their songs Master of Puppets