Until he found his own style of playing guitar and singing, Metallica‘s frontman and rhythm guitarist James Hetfield was influenced by many other bands and musicians from the ’60s and ’70s. Although the heavy metal scene was much stronger in the United Kingdom when he was young, there were many American hard rock bands that contributed to the heavy rock scene in the United States. One of them was Kiss, which had a heavier side but also wrote ballads, unlike most metal groups at the time, while also showing the music business that live concerts could offer much more than just the musical performance itself.
What is James Hetfield’s opinion on Kiss
Like most American kids who liked Rock and Roll in the 70s, James Hetfield also was a fan of the band. There is even a photo of him in make-up as the Spaceman (Ace Frehley) with his childhood friend John Zander as Starchild (Paul Stanley). “My best friend was John Zander, and we went through the music and football stuff together. But we were always battling. I was a Raider fan no matter what. But he’d switch from year to year depending on who won the Super Bowl.”
“One year a total Dolphins fan, next a Steelers fan. He liked Kiss, I liked Aerosmith, it was always a battle. I haven’t seen him for a long time, but just recently over the holidays my Dad brought some old slides along. One of them was a picture my Mom had taken of me and John dressed up as Kiss, face and all. I was Ace, he was Paul…a very scary thing,” he said in an interview for Metallica’s So What magazine in 1995 (Volume 2).
Although he was a bigger fan of Aerosmith, which is probably the American band that influenced the most, he mentioned Kiss many times over the years as one of the bands he was into when he was young.
James Hetfield said:
John Zander and Metallica’s James Hetfield with Kiss make-up
“My mom took me for piano lessons, because once when we were at a friend’s house I started beating on the piano. She thought I was going to be a virtuoso. (laughs) I took three years of piano lessons at an old woman’s house that smelled horrible. I realized quite early that music was a great communication tool, I liked being alone. I liked being able to close off the world, and music helped a lot with that. I’d put on the headphones and just listen to music.”
“Music would speak my voice, and it connected on so many levels. It made perfect sense that I would want to express myself that way. It was all about Kiss and Aerosmith. The first concert I went to was Aerosmith and AC/DC at the Long Beach Arena (July 12, 1978). I also loved Ted Nugent and Alice Cooper. A lot of the edgier, harder American Rock that was of that time. I didn’t get into other stuff until I was introduced to Lars two years later,” he told Guitar World.
James Hetfield lamented Metallica was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before Kiss
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame started inducting artists and bands in 1986, but it took them 20 years to induct the first Heavy Metal band. Black Sabbath was the first to be inducted, in 2006, and Metallica was the second in 2009.
Before the ceremony, when it was announced that the band would be nominated, Hetfield lamented that they were going in before bands like KISS. “It’s ironic that a band that has been inspired by all of these other ones are getting in there before them. We are going to go up there and kick some ass and kick the door down for some heavy bands that have not been recognized, like Rush and Kiss,” he told Reuters in 2009. Kiss was finally inducted in the following year, 2010. Since Metallica only two Heavy Metal bands joined the Hall: Judas Priest (2022) and Iron Maiden (2026).
Although James Hetfield praised KISS most of the time when he mentioned them, Hetfield once criticized the group for embarking on farewell tours that were not actually their last. “I don’t think that’s fair to anyone. KISS’ farewell tour for the 10th time? Scorpions were done and then they tour? You can’t say that and then not do it. I don’t know what’s in store for us. I don’t want to go on the history of how other bands have done it. We’re unique in our own path and unique in how our path ends,” James Hetfield told Kerrang in 2014.
Back in 1999, during a show in Pontiac (MI), Kid Rock, Ted Nugent and Sevendust joined Metallica on stage and they played a cover of Kiss “Detroit Rock City”, with Hetfield on vocals.
Paul Stanley said it was Eric Carr who introduced KISS to Metallica’s music
“How could you not be a Metallica fan?” Paul Stanley told Classic Rock. He also recalled it was the late drummer Eric Carr who first presented their music to Kiss members. “Eric Carr was the one that brought Metallica into our realm. He did that quite a bit earlier, in the early, early days of Metallica. But in terms of becoming a worldwide phenomenon, I would have to say the ‘Black Album’ was what did that.”
“’Enter Sandman’ – that song really flicked a switch, it changed something. It retained the grit, the passion and the rawness of what they had done until that point. But it managed to package it in a way that had a more widespread appeal. It wasn’t a coincidence that Bob Rock produced that album. He became the go-to guy for bringing out the most commercial aspect of a band’s sound. Whether we are talking Metallica or The Cult.”
“But the most important thing when you are a band or a creative person is to do what you want. Kudos to Metallica for that. Where they’ve gone since the Black Album, and factoring in their beginnings, is nothing less than amazing. Their appeal became massive, in capital letters, because it crossed boundaries. That’s always a great plus,” he said in 2022.
Metallica was formed in 1981, eight years after Kiss and released their debut album in 1983, nine years after the New York band. Although the Thrash Metal group was formed in California, they actually had to go to KISS’s hometown to make it. They got a record deal with Megaforce Records, which was based there, recorded their debut album in the city.