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The Latest Breaking News from Kirk Hammett

“Bob Rock said, ‘OK, tune up, and we’ll do the rhythm for this song now.’ I was like, ‘What?’” Kirk Hammett didn’t play rhythm guitar on Metallica's first five albums. That all changed with 1996’s controversial Load

In an attempt to explore new musical directions, Hammett was summoned to share rhythm guitar duties with James Hetfield, helping to kickstart a new phase for Metallica

Guitar World

Kirk Hammett tumbles off stage as Metallica pay tribute to Thin Lizzy in Ireland

The band’s first of two nights in Dublin saw Hammett embark on some unplanned choreography during a thrash classic

Guitar World

"Slip & Destroy." Metallica's Kirk Hammett sees the funny side after falling offstage during Dublin show

Metallica guitarist takes a tumble in Dublin as band launch into classic hit Seek & Destroy

Louder

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“The downpicking approach was inspired by competition between Dave and I. Like, ‘Here’s a riff… Wait, you can’t play that. Hahaha!’” How James Hetfield wrangled Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax for metal’s biggest reunion

James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett explain the origins of the Big 4 shows – which united Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax on one historic bill

Guitar World

The memory remains! Rare UK TV footage of Metallica playing Reload hit officially unearthed after almost 30 years

Just in time for the metal behemoths’ reissue of their 1997 album at the end of the month

Metal Hammer

“I don’t know how to say this without bragging”: This guitarist butchered classic riffs at Guitar Center to rage bait fellow customers. Then Jack White sent her his guitar

Charlene Kaye's viral videos have bagged her one of the world’s most bonkers signature guitars

Guitar World

“Metal needs a good f**king kick up the ass”: the story of Metallica’s Load

New haircuts, new sound, new Metallica: was Load the sound of metal’s biggest band trolling the world?

Metal Hammer

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“Kirk Hammett gave me one of his Greenies. I’ve been having fun with that”: Alex Lifeson is taking a Metallica signature guitar on the road with him for Rush’s reunion

The gift from Kirk Hammett is about to make prog history

Guitar World

“They just do what they feel is right for them. They don’t take into account what people think”: How Metallica rewrote their script (and irritated countless metalheads) with Load and Reload

When the former thrashers cut their hair and took influence from the blues, they didn’t emerge unscathed, but they remained heavy music’s biggest band all the same

Metal Hammer

“You’ll see the return of some of our most iconic products from the past”: The metal amp brand beloved by Dimebag Darrell, Kirk Hammett and Scott Ian is on the cusp of making a comeback

The once-giant amp firm has quietly reignited its product development in recent years

Guitar World

"I had to run out of the control room, and I found myself standing in the kitchen, sobbing away. James came into the kitchen in the same condition: he was sobbing too." The Metallica song that made both James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett cry

One Metallica song above all others had a profound effect on James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett

Metal Hammer

Ghost’s Tobias Forge, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and Judas Priest’s Rob Halford among 50 guests to appear on new album celebrating 50 years of German metal institution Accept

Members of Korn, The Smashing Pumpkins and Scorpions will also be on the 19-song set

Metal Hammer

"Every song we came up with was like the greatest thing. Every time we'd write another it was like: 'Oh my god!'" The inside story of Master Of Puppets and the two-year whirlwind that took Metallica to the big time

From an El Cerrito garage to stadiums with Ozzy Osbourne – as told by James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and more

Metal Hammer

“Kirk Hammett was definitely influential. Seeing a player of that caliber using one of our guitars helped people realize we were serious”: How Tom Anderson changed the guitar industry

From Schecter’s experimental beginnings to boutique-guitar leadership, he built a legacy of innovation, precision and playability. He’s now preparing the next chapter with successor Markus Spohn

Guitar World

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Metal Hammer

"I honestly wondered if this was the end for Metallica." Rehab, prison and the battle for the future of music: The story of the most divisive album in metal

Metallica almost destroyed themselves making 2003's St. Anger

MusicRadar

“Always a pleasure to host BFG in my office, and even better when he decides to take one of my CEO builds on tour!” Gibson CEO Cesar Gueikian has made a stunning custom Explorer – and Billy Gibbons is playing it onstage with ZZ Top

And the Gibson CEO also given us a sneak peak of the forthcoming DES lineup in the shape of a Ghost Burst SG?

Cinemablend

Jason Momoa Worked Hard To Help During Hawaii Floods, But I Still Didn’t See His Shoutout To Metallica Coming

Momoa’s Hawaii update includes a major metal assist.

MusicRadar

“It was the most metal thing I’d ever seen – I was hooked”: Jackson launches spectacular EverTune refresh of Christian Andreu’s signature Rhoads – and why we’ve got Kirk Hammett to thank for it

The Gojira riffer says he has been in love with the Jackson Rhoads ever since he saw Hammett of play one, and Andreu's latest signature version takes its design where it's never been before

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Guitar World

“One of the most historically significant guitars in rock and roll”: Ace Frehley’s iconic 1975 Gibson Les Paul expected to sell for more than half a million dollars at auction

The Les Paul will be sold alongside stage-played guitars from Stevie Ray Vaughan, Kirk Hammett and Billy Duffy at an upcoming auction

Guitar World

“I spent so much time as a teenager just staring at this guitar”: Liquid Gold Teles, a $569 shred machine, bonkers synth pedals... here is all the gear that caught my eye this week – and the megabucks Flying V that changed Kirk Hammett's life

Fresh new drops from Charvel, Fender, Gibson, Gretsch and more...

Guitar World

“I just wasn’t ready to spend $250,000 on a guitar at that stage in my life and my career”: Butch Walker turned down the opportunity to buy the Greeny Les Paul before Kirk Hammett bought it

The singer-songwriter has since come to regret the decision, even if his bank balance thanks him for it

MusicRadar

“It inspired a whole generation of hard rock guitarists to pick up the instrument, not least Metallica’s Kirk Hammett”: How a broken string, a loan from his brother and a fresh paint job helped Michael Schenker turn this Flying V into an icon of rock

Gibson used 3D scans to create this stunning Collector's Edition replica of the black-and-white Flying V that defined Schenker's work with UFO and Scorpions

Metal Hammer

"It'll be a fat cheque!" This thrash guitarist reckons he's due some cash from Metallica for his role in writing Creeping Death — and it's not Dave Mustaine

Gary Holt jokes that his lyrics on Exodus' 1983 demo Die By His Hand should entitle him to a cut of those sweet Metallica royalties

Guitar World

“I can put them in every guitar, and it’s gonna sound exactly like I need it to”: Metallica has rolled out something special to help celebrate 50 years of EMG

Updated sets for James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo will only be available in 2026

MusicRadar

“In terms of the guitar solo, he just keeps going! You think, ‘OK, surely it’s time to wrap it up?’ But no, he keeps going and it’s great”: The genius of David Gilmour in Pink Floyd’s greatest songs – by Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Stu Mackenzie and more

Plus! Comfortably Numb or comfortably dumb? Find out with our Pink Floyd quiz challenge

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