How much is James Hetfield worth?
| Net Worth: | $300 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Musician |
| Date of Birth: | August 3, 1963 (age 59) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 6 ft (1.85 m) |
About James Hetfield
If you’ve heard of Metallica then you’ve heard of James Hetfield. James Hetfield is the band’s lead singer and rhythm guitarist. He also writes or co-writes most of their songs. He is acclaimed as an intricate guitarist and writes most of the guitar harmonies the band performs.
At the height of his career, it is estimated that Hetfield earned income equal to a salary of $40-50 million dollars per year.
James Hetfield was born in 1963 in Downey, California. He comes from a large family, with a sister and two half-brothers. His parents divorced in 1976 and his mother passed away from cancer in 1979. He began his musical career as a nine year old with piano lessons. James also played drums briefly as a child, and when he was 14 took up the guitar. In his middle teen years, he played in several different bands. He says that his greatest influence was the band Aerosmith.
James is famous because he is a member of Metallica. As the lead singer, his is the face many fans associate with the band. James has been a member of the band since the age of 18. He responded to an advertisement that Lars Ulrich had placed in a Los Angeles newspaper for a jamming partner. The connection between them was immediate and Metallica was founded within months. James had found his musical home, reinvented his image and is still performing with the band to this day.
The first few years of Metallica’s existence saw various changes to the band’s line-up. By the end of 1983, therefore, the band comprised James Hetfield as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Lars Ulrich on drums, Kirk Hammett as lead guitarist and Cliff Burton as bass guitarist. After Cliff Burton’s death, Jason Newsted was recruited as bassist. Newsted left the band in the early 2000’s and was replaced by Robert Trujillo.
James Hetfield has also gained popularity for his lifestyle. He is an active guy, he loves custom cars, skateboarding and hunting. After one skateboarding accident too many, he was forced to sign an additional clause in his contract that forbade him from skateboarding while Metallica were on tour.
Metallica are well known for the visual effects they use on stage. Pyrotechnics play a big part in the shows, especially the big arena events. In 1992, he suffered burns when a pyrotechnic device exploded on stage. James’s guitar served to protect him from worse harm, but he nevertheless had to take time away from performing to fully recover. He also took time to recover from his alcohol addition.
He has said, “There was drink and drug and all kinds of stuff just thrown at you all the time and it starts off as a fun little thing, and then it turns into an escape, and then all of a sudden you don’t remember why you’re out there doing stuff.” Hetfield talked about how he did not use drugs like heroin, but was addicted to alcohol.
James Hetfield’s fortune comes from the success of Metallica. Their first two albums went platinum, and their third album in 1986 sold in excess of 4 million copies in the US, and many more millions overseas. More top selling albums have followed since, and as the band’s principal songwriter, Hetfield will receive royalties on whenever his songs are played elsewhere. Metallica’s total album sales top 58 million just in the US alone.
Metallica also undertake huge tours, including arena events and the income from these, even after the costs involved in staging them, adds to his wealth.
James Hetfield also makes appearances on TV shows both in the US and abroad. He has become an unofficial spokesperson for Metallica, and gives interviews about the band.
James Hetfield, like most successful musicians, can thank his talent for his success. He recognized his musical ability early in life, and worked to improve on the talent he had been blessed with. Those early piano lessons gave him a background that he was able to build on as he grew in his music career. Learning the guitar imbued a love of the instrument in James, and from then on the course of his life and career was set.
During his career James has met with some problems, mostly personal. He admits to having had difficulty with his management of anger issues. These he largely overcame after his marriage and with the help of his wife. He overcame his dependency on alcohol by going through a period of rehab. After this he committed to abstaining totally from alcohol. James now says that alcohol was the crutch he had come to depend on.
Now that crutch has gone, he feels he can live his life to the full, rather than just existing day-to-day, drink-to-drink. He now aims to take control of what is going on around him and actively seeks ways to improve his life.
Being a member of Metallica means that James is a part of a team. He firmly believes that it is the team’s effort that has made his career such a success. In order to succeed, you will need the help of others. There is strength in working as part of a team, with everyone aiming to make the whole team successful.
Hetfield’s Total Net Worth
James Hetfield has earned estimated total career income of $500 million dollars. Metallica is one of the highest-earning bands in the world, when they are on tour they can earn over $80 million dollars. In the years 2018-2019 the band earned $70 million.
As Hetfield lives in the state of California and earned through some high tax years, he will have had to pay around 50% in taxes on his career income. After tax, it is estimated that his career earnings are at around $250 million dollars, having paid $250 million dollars in taxes.
James Hetfield married Francesca Hetfield 1997 and they remain together. They have three children together, Cali Tee, Castor Virgil and Marcella Francesca Hetfield. In his personal life James has likely spent $10-13 million dollars of his career earnings but also earned $65 million dollars from his investments. He will have also had to pay around $4-5 million dollars in business related costs.
Therefore, it is estimated that James Hetfield has a net worth of about $300 million dollars.
Summing-Up
James Hetfield is an amazingly successful musician with a lot of great advice to give. Through talent and hard work he has collaborated with his band-mates to make Metallica one of the best known and most successful heavy-metal bands ever. He has overcome personal problems to reach a place in his life where he is happy. He gets great satisfaction from his career, and is aware that earning a good living is necessary for overall contentment. That’s why he has offered help and advice to others on their roads to success.
