James Hetfield’s opinion on Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys

The vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter James Hetfield is a crucial part of Metallica, the biggest Heavy Metal band of the past few decades and one of the pioneers of Thrash Metal. They were heavily influenced by Punk and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, but were they also inspired by less heavy bands?

Throughout his career, Hetfield has talked about many Rock and Roll bands, and one of them was The Beach Boys, whose mastermind was the late Brian Wilson.

What is James Hetfield’s opinion on Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys

James Hetfield has always have a broad musical taste and The Beach Boys is a band he loves. After the passing of Brian Wilson, at the age of 82 in 2025, he talked with Associated Press and praised the muscian. (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) “He is one of the most amazing songwrites on the face of the planet. Not just American. All the stuff, trials and tribulations that he went through, for me that’s a huge inspiration. Not that I’m comparing myself, but we all go through our tough stuff mentally. I think ‘God Only Knows’, that song is like one of the best written songs ever. So thank you, Brian, for that. May you rest in peace. We’re gonna miss you,” he said.

Hetfield had already listed “God Only Knows” back in 2004, in an interview with Rolling Stone his 10 favorite songs of all time. “I got on a Beach Boys kick again about six months ago. I gew up in Southern California; to me, this songs speaks to a higher power,” he said.

The track has been mentioned by many incredible artists over the decades as one of their favorites. Paul McCartney, for example, has said it’s his favorite song of all time. He gave a copy of Pet Sounds, the album the song appears on, to each of his children to educate them musically.

That album, released in 1966, is considered one of the most influential records of all time. It  inspired The Beatles, among others, and had a major impact on pop music in the decades that followed.

Brian Wilson was never a fan of heavier and faster music

On the other hand, Brian Wilson was never a big fan of heavier or faster music as he told The Guardian in 2015. When asked what was his opinion on Punk Rock music, he said: “I don’t know what that is. Punk rock? Punk? What is that?” Then the interviewer explained that was a kind of loud, agressive musical movement from the 70s and he said: “Oh yeah. I never went for that, I never went for the fast kind of music. I go for the more medium tempo. Spencer Davis, I liked that.”

Although the musician said that, he actually praised the Van Halen vocalist David Lee Roth a couple of times for his version of the Beach Boys’ hit “California Girls. He also revealed that his favorite band of all time were The Rolling Stones. “My favorite rock ‘n’ roll band to listen to are The Rolling Stones. They are always my go-to rock ‘n’ roll band. I love them so much,” Brian Wilson told Mojo in 2021.

The broad musical taste that James Hetfield has

The Beach Boys are not only less heavier band that James Hetfield likes. For example, he is a huge fan of artists like Elton John, Nick Cave, Enio Morricone, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and The Beatles. The main reason why he loves those artists is the melodies they came up with and their lyrics. It’s common for musicians to admire other artists whose music is quite different from their own.

So this shows that in order to create a unique style, like Metallica did as pioneers of Thrash Metal, an artist also needs to listen to genres that aren’t necessarily heavy. A broad musical taste allows them to learn and draw inspiration from a wide range of influences, enriching their own sound.

Their music was even praised by Elton John once, what moved James Hetfield to tears. He covered Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” as a guest of Miley Cyrus who was part of the tribute album “Metallica’s Blacklist”.

“This is one of the best songs ever written to me. So I mean, it’s a song that never gets old. I’m playing on this track, I just couldn’t wait. Because the chord structure, the melodies, the time changes. It’s got drama written all over it and I just thought it was a great idea to start with piano.”

“I have to say, it was no-brainer playing on this song. Metallica are probably the creme-de-la-creme of those kind of bands, you can’t really define them. (They’re) not a Heavy Metal band, they are a musical band. Their songs are not just Heavy Metal, they are beautiful songs and this is such a melodic song. It’s f*cking great, actually,” he said.