Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962)[1] is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist of heavy metal band Metallica since 1983.

After that, Hammett found himself drawn to his brother's Frankenstein figures and began spending his milk money on horror magazines.

[9] Hammett began showing an interest in music after listening to his brother Rick's extensive record collection (which included Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and UFO).

[10] He began selling his horror magazines to buy music records,[9] which led him to properly picking up the guitar at age 15.

Hammett's first guitar was (in his own words) a "wholly unglamorous" Montgomery Ward catalog special, which was accompanied by a shoebox (with a four-inch speaker) for an amp.

In 1979, he formed the band Exodus at the age of sixteen,[11] along with vocalist Paul Baloff, guitarist Tim Agnello, bassist Geoff Andrews, and drummer Tom Hunting.

Due to lead guitarist Dave Mustaine's substance abuse and violent tendencies, he was fired shortly after their arrival, and would eventually form the band Megadeth.

[19] However, even though jazz music had a profound effect on his improvisation skills and solos, Hammett felt that he was delving too deep into the genre.

Since Death Magnetic, Hammett has gone back to being "primarily" a metal guitarist,[19] but some of his influences of jazz and blues music still remain.

[21] Due to tensions within the band (which were well-documented in the Metallica documentary Some Kind of Monster) at the time, Hammett expressed interest in working on a solo album.

In 2009, Hammett provided the foreword to British author Joel McIver's book To Live Is to Die: The Life and Death of Metallica's Cliff Burton.

Said to be inspired by "classical music, soundtracks, horror movies and maybe a little Ennio Morricone", the EP is his solo debut and was released on April 23, 2022.

Hammett plays a guitar solo on Pansy Division's song "Headbanger" which appears on the EP For Those About to Suck Cock.

[30] In 2005, Hammett was featured playing the guitar roles on the Carlos Santana track "Trinity" alongside steel-pedal guitarist Robert Randolph.

He also provided various voices on the Adult Swim show Metalocalypse, including a two fingered fan ("The Curse of Dethklok"), The Queen of Denmark ("Happy Dethday"), and a Finnish barkeep ("Dethtroll").

Hammett collaborated with Cindy Blackman Santana and Vernon Reid from Living Colour on Evolution Revolution, a track from the former's 2020 album Give the Drummer Some.

[34] In May 2023, Hammett performed at the Jeff Beck tribute concerts held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, sharing the stage with Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, Billy Gibbons and Johnny Depp among others.

Tongue' zombie from George A. Romero's Day of the Dead), original Basil Gogos Famous Monsters art, and fantasy paintings by Frank Frazetta.

Hammett was inspired to create his own horror convention after experiencing the enjoyment of making his "crypt" at the Orion Music + More festival.

[39] At the 2014 event, guests included Sara Karloff (daughter of actor Boris Karloff), Bela G. Lugosi (son of actor Bela Lugosi),[40] make-up artist Gregory Nicotero (who worked on George A. Romero's Day of the Dead), actor Tom Savini (who portrayed Sex Machine in From Dusk Till Dawn and worked on many of George A. Romero's movies),[39] Heather Langenkamp (who portrayed Nancy in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street),[41] Kane Hodder (who portrayed Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th film series), and Haruo Nakajima (of Godzilla fame).

[44] Meshuggah headlined the event, whilst High on Fire, Blues Pills, Agnostic Front, and Asada Messiah also made appearances.

[45] In addition to playing guitar and collecting horror memorabilia, Hammett's hobbies include reading comic books and surfing.

[50] One of the reasons Hammett said he spent a lot of money on comic books is because he finds them to be a more enjoyable and healthier alternative to drugs.

[50] Although the other members of Metallica do not speak publicly about their politics, Hammett has expressed his disagreement with statements by former president Donald Trump.

[69] In 2014, Hammett purchased "Greeny", a 1959 Les Paul formerly used by Gary Moore and Peter Green; using it on tour as of 2015[update] when playing a cover of Thin Lizzy's version of "Whiskey in the Jar".

For the recording of Metallica's third album, Master of Puppets (1986), he and James Hetfield bought a Mesa/Boogie MarkIIC+ amplifier, and used Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier heads.

In 2022 on an interview with Rick Beato, he claimed to own "around 200" wah-wah pedals, citing his favorite one to be the Dunlop Dimebag Cry Baby From Hell.

[73] Hammett said that the Ibanez Tube Screamer has been an essential part of his sound since he was a teenager, but it was not versatile enough, which started him searching for a better pedal.

[74] In 2012, he co-founded KHDK Electronics with sound designer David Karon, hiring Antonin Salva as chief engineer, based in Prague.