Kirk Hammett

Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962 in San Francisco, California, USA) is the lead guitarist in heavy metal group Metallica.

Biography

Hammett was born to a Filipino mother and a Merchant Seaman father. He first took up guitar at age 15 and became sufficiently skilled to study under guitar legend Joe Satriani. Hammett achieved his first musical success as the lead guitarist for Oakland thrash metal band Exodus.

Related Topics:
Filipino - Merchant Seaman - Joe Satriani - Exodus

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He gained an interest in music from his brother Rick's extensive record collection, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and UFO. It all led to him properly picking up the guitar when he was 15, his first being a wholly unglamorous Montgomery Ward catalog special accompanied by a shoe box with 4 inch speaker for an amp.

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After picking up a 1978 Fender Stratocaster, Kirk experimented by mixing and matching guitar parts to find his perfect sound before falling for a 1974 Gibson Flying V. In a determined (and successful) effort to upgrade his equipment, Kirk even took a shift at Burger King to get the cash together for his first Marshall amp. Around that time, Kirk also co-founded Exodus with Paul Baloff, and the East Bay thrashers crossed paths with Metallica twice, in late '82 and early '83, as a support act.

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Hammett was invited to join Metallica after the dismissal of Dave Mustaine for substance abuse. His playing style is widely imitated in all forms of heavy metal. In 2002, he was the first inductee into Guitar World magazine's "Hall of Fame". He has toured with Metallica for more than 20 years and is a role model for many modern guitarists.

Related Topics:
Metallica - Dave Mustaine - Heavy metal - Guitar World

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Hammett has written riffs for Metallica songs since the mid-1980s. One of these riffs, "Enter Sandman", was written in a hotel room at 3:00 am, and became Metallica's best recognized song. It was the first track and single on Metallica's self-titled breakout album and was ranked 399th on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Related Topics:
Enter Sandman - Self-titled breakout album - Rolling Stone

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Kirk continues to bring not only a dazzling array of lead guitar parts to Metallica's music but also some savage rifferey, having started sharing 6-string duties with James during the 'Load' era. He is happily married to Lani, and lives in San Francisco along with a large collection of old Hollywood movie memorabilia, his two dogs Darla and Hoku, plus a few cats.

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