James Hetfield said recent experiences helped him begin to learn how to take proper care of himself as he gained more insight into his “Relationship With The World.”
The Metallica frontman and vocalist returned to rehab in 2019 while still battling alcoholism; which brought him back to action just in time for the coronavirus.
In a new interview with fan club magazine So What !, he agreed with interviewer Steffan Chirazi when asked if he felt “more comfortable” with the direction of his life than ever.
“As far as my life and growth and band life, all together I’d say yes,” Hetfield said. “The older we get, we learn more. Whether I want to learn any more about myself, that I don’t know. But I am learning about how much I’m a regular human being, I’m learning that more and more, and yeah, I get to be in a big, popular band, but everyone has their own celebrity in their life, and it’s all just relative to what’s around you. Ours is highly elevated, and I’m realizing a lot more that I have not cared for myself very well.”
James Hetfield described his bandmates as “brothers on this journey in life.”
“Metallica definitely happens because of us getting together,” he explained. “We’re gonna continue to stay connected and write music. For me, there’s been two sides of the coin in the band. There’s been ‘you’re on the road’ or ‘you’re writing.’ … I’m writing, they’re writing. At some point we’ll get together.”
Noting that everyone was learning to adapt to a world affected by COVID-19, Hetfield said:
“I realize more and more that this is a gift. This is a gift we’ve been handed, and we need to care [of] it.”