Metallica on James Hetfield’s return to rehab: “We really didn’t see it coming”

Metallica
Metallica (Image credit: Herring & Herring)

Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich and Robert Trujillo have spoken candidly to Metal Hammer magazine about what it was like seeing their friend and bandmate James Hetfield return to rehab last year.

The vocalist and guitarist re-entered a treatment programme in September 2019 - a move which led to the postponement of Metallica’s tour of Australia and New Zealand.

And in the brand new issue of Metal Hammer magazine, which is on sale from today, Hetfield’s bandmates have reflected on the impact Hetfield's struggles had on them.

Trujillo says: “We really didn’t see it coming. James seemed like he was fine, but then you look back and you try to analyse the situation over time and see where there were red flags. 

“Being on the road can be very challenging, and I would imagine for James, to get up there in front of all those people and have to be ‘on’ meanwhile, your family’s not with you and all these things are going on, it builds up."

Hammett says it was an emotional time for the whole band, and adds: “Whenever something happens to a band member like this, it’s so deeply unsettling. It comes as a shock. You have to do a bit of scrambling just to cover some ground.”

Ulrich adds: “I’m an only child, so these guys have been in my life longer than anybody else other than my parents. We know what the MO is. As you see your brothers, your friends, your partners go through ups and downs for decades, you know what the process becomes.”

The full, world exclusive interview with Metallica can be found in the new issue of Metal Hammer magazine, which is on sale now. The band are the cover stars and also give us the lowdown on the imminent release of S&M2 and their future plans

Issue 339 also features Trivium, BackxwashA.A. WilliamsAvatarMystifierIn Flames, Code Orange and much more.


(Image credit: Future)

Metallica: S&M2

<a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=38569&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.co.uk%2FVINYL-Metallica-San-Francisco-Symphony%2Fdp%2FB08C9CZ47C%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-21%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-21" data-link-merchant="Amazon UK"" target="_blank">Metallica: S&M2
Metallica's two landmark shows with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra from September 2019 are documented on this new live release. The concerts were lined up to mark 20 years since the original S&M album.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.