The Latest Breaking News from Kirk Hammett

"Not that Kirk doesn't get enough solos, but Cliff took his solo, which I think is just so cool": Robert Trujillo on the time Metallica mixed up their solos

He says Orion is “the closest thing to the spirit of Cliff Burton”

MusicRadar · Feb 12

“That whole thing of doing the trades with other players is a really nice thing”: Vernon Reid says he hopes he and Jack White have started a trend for pro guitarists swapping signature models

It all started with a chance meeting at the airport but now the Living Colour guitarist says he's already lined up more high-profile trades

MusicRadar · Feb 3

“Every song we came up with was like the greatest thing. Every time we’d write another it was like, ‘Oh my god’”: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax and more remember how thrash metal took over the world 40 years ago

1986 was the year where thrash metal broke through. We got the genre’s leading bands to look back on those whirlwind 12 months.

Metal Hammer · Jan 30

“Kirk Hammett’s in front of me with a guitar trying to teach me stuff. They’re like, ‘Get your stuff. You’re flying on the private jet with us’”: Daron Malakian on the time he saved a Metallica gig – and ended up filling in for an injured James Hetfield

Malakian stepped up to sub for Hetfield at the last minute while on tour – and stuck around until he was fully recovered

Guitar World · Jan 5

"I'll never forget it. It still brings goosebumps." System Of A Down's Daron Malakian on being asked to fill in for injured James Hetfield on Metallica's Summer Sanitarium tour in 2000

System Of A Down had yet to make their breakthrough – but guitarist Malakian was thrust onto the stage with metal royalty

Metal Hammer · Jan 4

“The first thing I said to him was, ‘You bought Greeny.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, I’ve got it. You want to play it?’” Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith had a chance encounter with Kirk Hammett – and ended up babysitting his iconic Les Paul

The fabled Gibson has been making plenty of big-name players weak at the knees recently

Guitar World · Dec 17, 2025

“I was trying to write something heavier than the bands I was listening to, and that felt like the first time that I’d done it”: How Metallica broke the thrash metal mould with biblical barnstormer Creeping Death

Pinching a riff from Kirk Hammett’s former band and inspired by a Charlton Heston film, Metallica reached a new level with their 1984 single

Metal Hammer · Dec 9, 2025

“The teacher would say, ‘OK, get out your health books,’ and I would have to leave. My parents told me a little speech to say about our religion and why, and I didn’t believe it”: How Metallica turned childhood trauma into a decades-spanning trilogy

Inspired by James Hetfield’s isolated upbringing (and a little bit of Chris Isaak), Metallica made an honest, inverted ballad and kicked off a 27-year-long series

Metal Hammer · Nov 28, 2025

Kirk Hammett's guitar far exceeds selling expectations

A guitar Kirk Hammett played during Black Sabbath‘s final gig has sold for a staggering $76,800 - more than 12 times the predicted sale price.

BANG Premier · Nov 28, 2025

“Our manager basically kicked us out of his house. We were supposed to go to Europe for the first time, and our gear had gotten stolen”: How Metallica turned tragedy into Fade To Black – the acoustic epic that put the elitists in their place

Inspired by the time Metallica’s gear was pinched, Fade To Black threw the metal scene into an uproar – but the band had the last laugh

Metal Hammer · Nov 25, 2025