The 2 Metal vocalists James Hetfield listed as the best of all time

James Hetfield has been one of the greatest Heavy Metal vocalists, songwriters and rhythm guitarists in the world over the past decades. As the frontman of Metallica, he has influenced countless generations of musicians and helped keep heavy music alive and well. Throughout his career, he has always praised artists who came before and inspired him, once revealing who he considers the two greatest Metal vocalists of all time.

The 2 Metal vocalists James Hetfield listed as the best of all time

Ronnie James Dio

James Hetfield not only thinks the late vocalist Ronnie James Dio was the best singer Heavy Metal ever had, but also the best in music overall. When asked by Rolling Stone to list the greatest vocalists of all time, Dio was the one he picked for the top spot.

“When we did the Ronnie Dio tribute record. We did this medley of a bunch of different Dio songs. I just realised how fucking amazing that guy was. It pissed me off, because when I met him I said, ‘Hey, can I hear your warmup tape? What do you do? What’s your secret to all of this?’”

“And he said, ‘Well, I just have a little glass of wine and go out and sing.’ What?! Yeah right! But I don’t think he was BS’ing me. (Dio) was just a natural singer and he had a range that had power all the way through it. He just continues to challenge me which is great,” James Hetfield told Music Radar in 2016.

He and Metallica had the chance to honor their hero when they were part of the tribute album “Ronnie James Dio – This Is Your Life” (2014). They recorded a medley of four Rainbow tracks: “Stargazer”, “Kill the King”, “Tarot Woman” and “A Light In The Black”.

Dio loved Metallica

Curiously, the late frontman also was a fan of the Thrash Metal group. When talking with Rhapsody in 2005, when they already were one of the biggest bands in the world, he praised their self-titled album, especially because of the hit “Enter Sandman”. “I thought (Metallica’) was a great album, and I thought that song was especially great. (Because) I heard them venturing into another space when I heard that song.”

“I was very surprised. It’s just a well-played, perfect song from them at the perfect time. Everyone expected something different or maybe they expected something the same. They gave them something very, very different, so that’s a great song,” Ronnie James Dio said.

Ronnie James Dio first gained notoriety as the frontman of Elf, a band that had the chance to tour as Deep Purple’s opening act in the 70s. When Ritchie Blackmore decided to form his own band, Rainbow, he was the one the guitarist chose as frontman. After leaving the band in the late 70s, he joined Black Sabbath for two successful albums before starting his own band, Dio.

Rob Halford

The second best Metal vocalist of all time according to James is the Metal God himself, Rob Halford. He placed the Judas Priest frontman on the third position of his list, just behind Dio and Alice in Chains’ Layne Staley. “Judas Priest is everything we wanted to be as a band starting out. If someone asked you to define what Metal is, that’s one of the bands you’d show them,” Hetfield told Billboard.

In 2023, when Judas Priest played at the Power Trip Festival in California, James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett, who were scheduled to perform the next day, were already there to watch them, as well as AC/DC. They were filmed at the front of the stage enjoying the show, singing along and playing air guitar to the songs.

“I just kind of realized we’re down in the very front. (We were) looking up — Rob Halford riding out on a motorcycle and there’s fans behind us, looking at us. They’re watching us enjoy that. How cool. I guess that’s pretty cool. We’re fans at the end of the day. We wanted to be in the mix and see it. So, it’s been a fantastic weekend,” he later said, recalling the moment.

James Hetfield played with Rob Halford many times

He had the chance to play with Rob Halford multiple times over the years, covering Judas Priest’s classic song “Rapid Fire”. The first opportunity to perform with him live on stage came in 1994 during a show in Miami, Florida. At the time, Rob had already left Priest, and he joined Metallica on stage to sing the song. They would perform it together again at Metallica’s 30th anniversary concert in 2011 and once more in 2013 at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards. “When Metallica were celebrating their 30th anniversary they invited me to play our Judas Priest song ‘Rapid Fire’”.

“Metallica always paid respect to us and their forebears. So now it’s time for me to return the favor. They took what bands like Priest, Sabbath, Maiden, AC/DC and a ton of others were doing and turned into a phenomenon more massive than anyone could have imagined. So many bands have been influenced by them,” Rob Halford said during his speech at Revolver awards (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).

He has also said over the years that he admires the level of success Metallica was able to achieve. Because they went beyond the traditional Heavy Metal audience, something very few bands have been able to do.