Biography

Hammett was born in San Francisco, California on November 18, 1962, to Teofila (Oyao) and Dennis L. Hammett, a merchant seaman. He learned guitar at age 15 and joined Metallica to replace Dave Mustaine in 1982. He has won several Grammys with Metallica and participated in their class action law suit against Napster. His father had Irish, English, Scottish, and German ancestry, and his mother's family is Filipino.
- IMDb mini biography by: David

Heavy guitar solos

Curly hair

ESP Kirk Hammett guitar

Collection of guitars with classic horror and Universal Monsters artwork

A life lived unexplored is a life not worth living.

We were very, very frightened. I had to sit down and take stock of my life and see if I had a life outside the band, because I was questioning if there was even a future for Metallica. That was a scary thought; when you've been in a band for as long as we have, you take for granted that it's always going to be there. [recalling the uncertainty of Metallica's future, after Jason Newsted left the band and James Hetfield entered rehab]

There was a lot of anguish after Cliff died, and basically Jason was the punching bag. We vented so much on him, and it wasn't really fair. [on how Metallica coped with the transition from bassist Cliff Burton to Jason Newsted]

I think it's morally wrong to keep someone away from what keeps him happy.