Metallica frontman James Hetfield has named Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi as the musician who has had the biggest influence on his rhythm guitar playing and songwriting.
Hetfield discussed Iommi during the latest episode of his Riff Life show on SiriusXM’s Maximum Metallica, where he shares riffs, bands and artists that have influenced him throughout his career.
“Tony Iommi is the Riff Lord in my mind, and he is the one that has inspired me the most out of any guitar player for my rhythm guitar playing and songwriting,” Hetfield said.
Hetfield specifically pointed to Black Sabbath’s “Children of the Grave,” highlighting the way Iommi builds around the song’s central riff and opens it up with larger chords.
“I really love the drum overdub that they did to help with that percussion of the riff and the real cool ghostly guitar sounds at the very, very end,” he added.
The latest episode of James Hetfield’s Riff Life airs today at 6:00 PM ET on SiriusXM’s Maximum Metallica and will also be available through the SiriusXM app.
Check out a clip of Hetfield discussing Iommi below, courtesy of SiriusXM’s Maximum Metallica.
Metallica recently extend their M72 World Tour into 2027 with new North American dates. See below.
Tour Dates:
May 8 – Vancouver, BC – BC Place
May 13 – San Diego, CA – Snapdragon Stadium
May 18 – El Paso, TX – Sun Bowl Stadium
May 22 – San Antonio, TX – Alamodome
May 26 – Fayetteville, AR – Razorback Stadium
May 29 – Kansas City, MO – Arrowhead Stadium
June 2 – Raleigh, NC – Carter-Finley Stadium
June 5 – Indianapolis, IN – Lucas Oil Stadium
June 8 – Buffalo, NY – Highmark Stadium
June 12 – Madison, WI – Camp Randall Stadium
June 15 – Cleveland, OH – Huntington Bank Field
June 19 – Salt Lake City, UT – Rice-Eccles Stadium
