“I’d still be trying to kick some doors down”: James Hetfield says if Metallica never existed, he’d spend his life trying to make Metallica exist
Metallica are the biggest metal band of all time, with a career spanning well over 40 years, tens of millions of fans around the world and more than 150 million album sales. But what would its members be doing if the band hadn’t become such a monstrous success?
“I’d be trying to form Metallica, still,” jokes frontman James Hetfield in a new episode of The Metallica Report, Metallica’s own weekly podcast [via Blabbermouth].
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Hetfield adds that he’d also probably still be “looking for a Lars [Ulrich, Metallica drummer and co-founder]”.
“I’d be roading or working in a studio, hopefully helping make music somehow. Or graphic design. I love graphics. I love doing artwork. I also like doing trades stuff – craftsmanship with wood, with metal, building stuff. Maybe that would’ve turned into something, too. But music is a gift I’ve been given, so I’d still be trying to kick some doors down and get into it somehow.”
Given Hetfield’s legendary right-hand rhythm chops, he didn’t need to kick that many doors down for people to start seeing his musical gift – at least not 40 years worth of doors.
In terms of what bassist Rob Trujillo would be doing had he not joined Metallica in 2003, he replies: “It’s a good question. I would probably continue to play music. I love songwriting, so I always write songs, even just for fun. It’s something that I do, so maybe I would get into songwriting, become an independent songwriter, maybe get into production.
“The other thing that I actually originally started to do – my first job was in construction. So I always thought that maybe I would become a contractor. I think that my skills as an organiser, a coordinator could help. I don’t like lifting heavy things anymore.
“Back in the day, I could lift a couple sheets of drywall, no problem, up three flights of stairs. I did drywall. I did hardwood floors for a long time. Learning that stuff was great because now if I see a fixer-upper property or a house, I’m not afraid of it. I always see the potential of it because I’ve done that on my own and I’ve experienced that. So I’m not afraid to remodel or rebuild. [I’d] probably be a contractor – something in the trades. I’d be a tradesman of sorts.”
Metallica recently announced they’d be returning to Europe in 2026 on their M72 World Tour. For more information, head to metallica.com.
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