Metallica's Super Sexy Front Man
Metallica frontman James Hetfield is quite simply the most gorgeous man in rock, and he's been through hell and back enough times to write about it hundreds of times over. He's been a human torch, he's been called a sellout, he's battled crippling addictions, and now he's sitting on top of the world with the success of Metallica's latest album, St. Anger, and an incredible tour. After years of alcoholic binges, he's finally hung up the beer bottles and come out of rehab swinging, ready to face the world head-on and sober. His beautiful blue eyes, wavy blonde hair, and deep hypnotic voice make him the perfect front runner for one of the greatest -- if not the greatest -- and most influential bands in music history. Nope, rock ain't just for the boys anymore. He's tall, he's rough around the edges, he's mean and he's lean and he's uber sexy (and also uber married). Watch out ladies, here comes Het.
From Rut to Strut
James Alan Hetfield was born on August 3, 1963, in Los Angeles, California. His mother, Cynthia, was a light opera singer, and his father, Virgil, was a truck driver who owned a trucking company. James described his mother as being a "Berkley mom," who was open to things such as long hair and rock music, while his father, on the other hand, was more conservative. Life in the Hetfield house was not easy sailing. Because of Virgil's occupation, he was rarely home to see his family. Consequently, James' parents divorced when he was 13 years old. Even so, his parents attempted to maintain him in the Christian Science faith. Because of his parents' religious views, James was forbidden to participate in school activities such as physical education class and sex ed. This made him feel singled out from his other classmates, who labled him a "freak" and an outsider.  When James was only 16 years old, his mother succumbed to cancer, partly due to a lack of medical treatment (Christian Scientists choose to seek spiritual healing through prayer and faith as an alternative to medical treatment). James later said that he regretted his mother never being able to see his success. After his mother's death, James, estranged from his absent father, went to live with his older step-brother, David. Later in his life, however, James and his father did make amends before Hetfield Sr. passed away from cancer. James showed an early interest in music, taking piano lessons at the age of 9 and hijacking his brother David's drums and guitar when he got a little bit older. During his early and awkward teenage years, James joined his first garage band, Obsession, and went to see his first concert, Aerosmith and AC/DC, in 1978 in Long Beach, California. In October of 1981, after a multitude of failed garage bands, friend and fellow garage-bander, the Danish drummer and tennis player extraordinaire Lars Ulrich approached Hetfield through an ad in a local paper, the Recycler, about forming a group. James readily accepted.
The Man, the Myth, the Legend
James is a gentle giant at 6'1" and weighs approximately 180 pounds (that's 1.85 m and 81.65 kilos for all you metric hippies). A bit accident prone to say the least, James has been the recipient of hundreds of stitches to his hands, head, knees, and forehead, in addition to sustaining numerous broken bones and severe burns. These injuries, and numerous others, were acquired from various hunting, fishing, and sporting accidents, as well as on stage (which is probably the most dangerous place of all). In fact, Hetfield's most notable mishap occurred on stage at a concert in Montreal, Canada, while touring with Guns N' Roses on August 8, 1992. A pyrotechnic accident left him with severe burns to the left side of his upper body when a communication error between the pyro techie and the band left James standing right in the middle of an on-stage explosion (bye-bye hair and eyebrows). All joking aside, the incident left James in need of critical medical attention and numerous skin grafts. It also made for a long and very painful recovery. Even so, James refused to quit and kept on touring with Metallica, despite being wrapped up in bandages. Unable to play the guitar in his condition, a member of their stage crew took over James' part while he recovered. Despite the circumstances, James presented a positive attitude, joking backstage, "You'll let me know when I'm on fire, right?" (from Metallica: Year and a Half in the Life of... and Binge and Purge). When he's not providing the vocals and rhythm guitar for Metallica, James is an avid outdoors man who loves to go fishing, wakeboarding, and snowboarding. James also loves to go hunting and is a member of the NRA (run bunny rabbits, run!). He used to enjoy skateboarding, but he put away the board for good after having several bone crushing accidents in 1986 and 1987, requiring metal plates to be put in his left arm. On August 17, 1997, long-time girlfriend Francesca Tomasi, the band's former costumer, finally took James off the market and gave him three beautiful children: Cali Tee (b. June 13, 1998), Castor Virgil (b. May 18, 2000), and Marcella Francesca (b. January 17, 2002). All and all, James is a typical meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. He enjoys Clint Eastwood, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Black Sabbath, the Oakland Raiders, ice hockey, Harley motorcycles, hot rods, and anonymity (oops, disregard the last three paragraphs).