Kirk Hammett
Birthday: November 18, 1962
Nationality: American
Famous: Vegans Guitarists
Age: 56 Years, 56 Year Old Males
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Also Known As: Kirk Lee Hammett
Born in: San Francisco
Famous as: American musician
Height: 5'8" (173 cm), 5'8" Males
Spouse/Ex-: Lani Hammett (m. 1998), Rebecca Hammett (m. 1987–1990)
mother: Teofila
children: Angel Ray Keala Hammett, Vincenzo Kainalu Hammett
U.S. State: California
City: San Francisco, California
education: De Anza High School, San Francisco State University
Recommended For You
Kirk Hammett is one of the renowned names in the metal rock music industry. A member of the band Metallica, he developed affinity for music since an early age. He was fifteen years old when he first picked up a guitar to satiate his new-found interest. Soon, he started honing his skills and creating his own signature sound. He took up job at the Burger King and with the extra money earned he bought for himself his first Marshall amp. This led him to initiate his own band, Exodus of which he was a part for only two years. In 1993, he joined Metallica and rest as they is history. In 2003, he was ranked 11th on Rolling Stone's list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Six years later, in 2009, Hammett was ranked number 5 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists.
- Kirk Hammett was born to Teofila "Chefela" Oyao, a Filipina mother and Irish Merchant marine father in San Francisco.He completed his preliminary education from De Anza High School, where he met Les Claypool of Primus. He befriended Primus for the rest of his life.He took up work at the Burger King but did not continue for long and quit working in the fast food chain once he had saved enough money to buy a Marshall amplifier.Recommended Lists:
Recommended Lists:
Career- Early musical interest led him to pursue a career in music. He was interested in the fledging thrash metal genre and hence tried to make a career out of the same.In 1980, he formed a five-member band, Exodus, which had Paul Baloff as the vocalist, Gary Holt as the guitarist, Geoff Andrews as the bassist, and Tom Hunting as the drummer.In 1982, he played on the Exodus’ Demo. The band went on to gain an influential status during the Bay Area Thrash movement.In 1983, he was offered a position in the band Metallica after Dave Mustaine, the lead guitarist, left the band to form his own band, Megadeth. Immediately after him joining Metallica, the band released their debut album, ‘Kill ‘Em All’. At that time, he was taking private lessons from guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani.For Metallica’s second album, ‘Ride the Lightning’ he wrote and contributed riffs. His riff was used in the track, ‘Enter Sandman’ which went on to become one of the most popular Metallica songsThe song was the first track and first single on Metallica’s self-titled Black album. The song became so popular that it ranked at the 399th position on Rolling Stone’s list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.Following the success of the second album, the band concentrated their energy towards their third album which they released in 1986 titled, ‘Master of Puppets’. The album displayed his style of music and was considered by many as metal’s greatest all-time albums.Year 1986 was a tragic one for the group as during the European tour, Cliff Burton died a tragic accidental death after the tour bus slid off the road and overturned. With the demise of Burton, Jason Newsted filled up for the vacant space of the bassist in the group.In 1988, Metallica came up with its fourth album, ‘And Justice For All’ which was followed by the 1991 self-titled album, ‘Metallica’. Both the albums were mega hits and made the metal band one of the most popular.The success of the band led it to come up with several more albums and indulge in tours most of which were sold-out. They continued to release hit albums such as ‘Load’ in 1996, ‘reload’ in 1997, ‘Garage Inc’ in 1998 and ‘S&M’ in 1999.In the 1990s, he changed his guitar playing style and shifted focus from early metal roots to more earthly Jimi Hendrix-esque style. In 2003, he desired to have a solo on Metallica’s next album ‘St Anger’ but later gave up on the same.In 2005, other than contributing to the Metallica band, he played guitar on Carlos Santana track "Trinity" alongside steel-pedal guitarist, Robert Randolph.In 2006, he voiced for himself in an episode of the show, ‘The Simpsons’ titled, ‘The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer’. He also provided voice on other shows such as ‘Adult Swim show Metalocalypse’, ‘The Queen of Denmark’ and ‘Space Ghost: Coast to Coast’.Other than contributing for the Metallica band, he played for several other musicians and their bands.Other than his musical pursuits, he wrote a foreword to British author Joel Mclver’s book, ‘To Live is to Die: The Life and Death of Metallica’s Cliff Burton’. In 2012, he released his first book, ‘Too Much Horror Business’, which was a collection of photos detailing Hammett's lifelong love of monster movies and horror memorabilia.Recommended Lists:
Recommended Lists:
Awards & Achievements- In 2009, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with other bandmates of Metallica Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, and Robert Trujillo.Personal Life & Legacy
- He has twice been in a nuptial relationship. The first was to Rebecca in 1987. The marriage lasted for only three years and was annulled in 1990.In 1998, he married Lani, his second wife. They have been blessed with two sons, Angel and Vincenzo.He studied Film and Asian arts in the San Francisco State University during the gap between promoting his albums.Trivia
- This Metallica band member has his birth date and place tattooed on his stomach.
Translate Wiki to Spanish, French, Hindi, PortugueseHow To Cite
Article Title- Kirk Hammett BiographyAuthor- Editors, TheFamousPeople.comWebsite- TheFamousPeople.comURL- https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/kirk-hammett-3956.phpLast Updated- October 12, 2017
Kirk Hammett
People Also Viewed
Also Listed In
