Metallica’s James Hetfield Reveals How Elton John and Bernie Taupin inspired him to write new music

In October 1981, Lars Ulrich placed an advertisement in the Los Angeles newspaper The Recycler, seeking a drummer. James Hetfield responded, leading to the creation of the iconic heavy metal band Metallica. Over the past few decades, Metallica has released 11 studio albums, won multiple Grammy Awards, and earned Hetfield a spot on Rolling Stone’s list of the Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Despite his decades on stage, Hetfield recently shared how Elton John inspired him to write new music.

VIDEOS BY AMERICAN SONGWRITER

In an episode of The Metallica Report podcast, Hetfield discussed his admiration for John, reminiscing about performing for him when John and Bernie Taupin received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Hetfield expressed his love for his small recording studio, saying, “Whether it’s an escape from life or whatever it is, I love my little music room basement. I’ve got a computer, a few guitars, and a little rig set up. It is my soul-nourishing place, to go in there and just play and write. Not so much practicing, it’s just writing.”

Hetfield continued to reveal his sources of inspiration: “There’s always ideas. I get inspired [by] all kinds of different music, listening to it. Even the Elton John thing, hanging out with Elton and Bernie Taupin challenged me.”

[RELATED: Metallica’s James Hetfield Honors Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister With Tattoo Featuring Singer’s Ashes]

James Hetfield Compares Playing Guitar To Breathing

Reflecting on John’s biopic Rocketman, Hetfield marveled at the collaborative process between John and Taupin. “Watching [2019 John biopic] Rocketman and seeing how they wrote – Elton is such a visionary in the way that Bernie sets a set of lyrics, a poem, in front of him and he sees the music just appearing, which is bizarre to me. I’m more of the old Tony Iommi way, where, ‘Here is the riff, and we build around the riff,’ you know?”

Although Metallica hasn’t released new music since their 2023 album 72 Seasons, Hetfield shows no signs of slowing down. He shared, “[I’ve] been doing some skiing, getting up on the mountain – there’s been tons of snow in Colorado, where we’re at, so a good snow season – and writing loads of music. [I’ve been] playing guitar pretty much every day. I have to. It’s like breathing.”