Kirk Hammett is a guitarist from San Francisco, United States, best known as the lead guitarist of Metallica. He is associated with hard rock, heavy metal, metal, rock, speed metal and thrash metal.

Early life and influences

Hammett is born in 1962 in El Sobrante, California, and is of Filipino and Irish descent. As a child and teenager, he takes a strong interest in his older brother Rick’s record collection, which includes hard rock by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and UFO. Jimi Hendrix is one of his key influences, and he later performs parts of Hendrix songs during guitar solos.

He begins playing guitar at 15, starting with a Montgomery Ward catalogue special and a makeshift amplifier made from a shoebox and a four-inch speaker. He later uses a 1978 Fender Stratocaster, experiments with different parts to shape his sound, and eventually settles on a 1974 Gibson Flying V. To buy a Marshall amplifier, he works at Burger King.

Hammett is also one of the best-known students of guitarist and teacher Joe Satriani.

Exodus and Metallica

In 1982, Hammett forms Exodus with vocalist Paul Baloff, guitarist Gary Holt and drummer Tom Hunting. The band becomes an important early group in the Bay Area thrash metal movement.

He joins Metallica after the 1983 dismissal of original lead guitarist Dave Mustaine. Since the mid-1980s, he writes and contributes riffs to Metallica songs, with particularly active involvement during the Load period in the 1990s. He tours with the band for many years and becomes widely regarded as a major influence on later guitarists.

Notable songs and guitar style

One of Hammett’s best-known riffs is for “Enter Sandman”, which he writes in a hotel room in the early morning. The song becomes one of Metallica’s most popular tracks and appears as the first track and single on the band’s 1991 self-titled album. It is also ranked 399th on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

His solos are often noted for heavy use of the wah-wah pedal, a choice that draws criticism on some later recordings. Hammett says, “The wah-wah is an extension of my personality.”

Other projects and recognition

Alongside Metallica and Exodus, he is associated with Maxwell House Ranch Band, Spastik Children, GAK and Mick Fleetwood and Friends.

In 2002, he becomes the first inductee into Guitar World magazine’s Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Hammett’s first marriage ends in 1990 during the period of work on the Black Album. He later lives in San Francisco with his second wife, Lani.