Kirk Hammett is the talented and likeable lead guitarist of Metallica and he is also the oldest member of the band. His amazing solos and catchy riffs have given rise to some of the best Metallica songs over the years and he seems like a laidback character. In sharp contrast to some of his band mates he often has a smile on his face and has little interest in conflict.

Born in San Francisco in 1962 Hammett’s mother was a Filipina and his father an Irish Merchant Marine. He was raised in El Sobrante and it was his older brother Rick who inspired his love of rock. With an extensive collection including Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Jimi Hendrix records and guitars as well, Kirk was soon determined to become a guitarist. In fact he wanted to be the next Hendrix and he got his first guitar at the age of fifteen.

His first guitar was useless and as soon as he could he picked up a Fender Stratocaster but eventually decided the 1974 Gibson Flying V was the guitar for him. He still has his original Flying V. In the early eighties Hammett took a job at Burger King so he could raise money for a Marshall amp and formed his first band with Paul Baloff, they were called Exodus. They actually supported Metallica a couple of times but in 1983 then lead guitarist Dave Mustaine was kicked out of the band and Kirk got the call to audition. He flew to New York and played with the rest of the band, he seemed to fit in perfectly and so he never left despite not being officially invited to join.

Kirk played on Metallica’s first album Kill ‘Em All and after the tour he took guitar lessons from the legendary Joe Satriani. He has retained a passion to learn throughout his career constantly pushing his ability and studying different styles. His influence on the song writing and live performances has been major and his guitar solos were soon hailed as amongst the best in the metal scene. Hammett never became arrogant about his ability though and even after the Black album tour in 1993 he went to classes at the City College of San Francisco.

Hammett’s first marriage failed after three years but in 1998 he married Lani and the couple have two sons together. Away from Metallica he has all kinds of interests including surfing, cars, science fiction, horror movies and cooking, he is a vegetarian.

Hammett has always been the quiet one in Metallica and he seems to try to calm the others down, advocating a policy of unity which hasn’t always sunk in with his band mates. He expressed his sadness about Jason Newsted leaving the band in an interview but for the most part he seems happy to go along with the flow. He is obviously passionate about music and especially guitar and he listens to a varied list of bands from the obscure to the famous and credits several influences.