“Metallica were still a local band. It made no sense for me to say, ‘I’m out of here, I’m going to join them”: The man who was asked to replace James Hetfield as singer in Metallica – and turned it down

A composite photograph of Armored Saint’s John Bush and James Hetfield of Metallica.

It’s hard to imagine Metallica fronted by anyone other than James Hetfield, but there was a point when Papa Het considered stepping back from the microphone to focus on playing guitar.

In late 1982 and early 1983, Metallica were making a name for themselves on the LA scene as a heavier antidote to the emerging Sunset Strip hard rock scene. But Hetfield was unsure of his abilities as a vocalist, and the idea was floated of getting in a different singer to allow him to focus on playing guitar.