Credit: Alamy

James Hetfield says that Metallica are “average players” as musicians

Fri 24 March 2023 14:49, UK

Metal singer and guitarist James Hetfield feels that he and his bandmates in Metallica are only average musicians. Hetfield revealed his opinion in a new interview with Cigar Aficionado magazine.

“I know individually we’re all really average players, but when you put us together something happens,” Hetfield told the magazine. “Something really happens…. Getting up and jamming with people is like a nightmare for me.”

Hetfield also revealed his struggles with stage freight during the band’s early days, something that he’s gotten over in the modern day. “Early shows were really difficult— I was so shy,” Hetfield said. “[I] didn’t want to talk. I’d have the other guys in the band introduce the songs. [Now] I feel so comfortable up there, it’s so weird. Sitting down one-on-one with someone is a lot more anxiety ridden than standing up in front of 10,000 people, 20,000 people.”

“As we get older, we would love to continue to play all the places we’ve been before but it’s near impossible to keep up the pace we’ve had, say, in the ’90s. We would go out for months at a time…We are very self-critical and hard on ourselves and have very high standards. So we do take care of all aspects of bringing the best show visually and sonically to the people that enjoy our music and continue to come to see us live.“

Metallica is set to release their 11th studio album, 72 Seasons, in April.