James Hetfield has had an interesting past few years. He re-entered rehab in September 2019, and he made his first public appearance post-rehab in January 2020. Of course, the world would shut down just two months later due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Metallica frontman opened up about the whole situation in a lengthy interview with the band’s blog So What!. He views the spring of 2020 as a “rebirth again” after seeking help and confronting his personal issues.
Hetfield said, ” … Obviously, when the pandemic happened, it was – and I want to word this right because it was horrible, absolutely horrible for many people – in a strange way, it was kind of a silver lining for me.”
He continued, “I was able to put the brakes on life and really take some time to embrace my needs at that time. So yeah, not discounting all of the terrible things that were happening at that point. It was just a timely thing that happened, and I can see the [positivity] in it for myself.”
In an August 2020 interview with Metal Hammer, Robert Trujillo, Kirk Hammett and Lars Ulrich each expressed being taken aback by the news of Hetfield seeking treatment. Trujillo said, “We really didn’t see it coming. James seemed like he was fine, but then you look back and you try to analyze the situation over time and see where there were red flags.”
Hammett added, “Whenever something happens to a band member like this, it’s so deeply unsettling. It comes as a shock. You have to do a bit of scrambling just to cover some ground.”
“I’m an only child, so these guys have been in my life longer than anybody else other than my parents,” said Ulrich. “We know what the MO is. As you see your brothers, your friends, your partners go through ups and downs for decades, you know what the process becomes.”
