Metallica's James Hetfield Makes His First Public Appearance Since the "S and M 2" Concerts

Metallica frontman James Hetfield made his first major public appearance since the bands’ two S & M 2 concerts in San Francisco in September. Hetfield entered rehab a short time after the shows and there has been little news about the band since, other than their festival plans for 2020. The Metal music legend made an appearance last night (Thursday, January 30), when an exhibit featuring ten of his classic custom cars opened with a ticketed reception at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Hetfield took part in a chat and helped auction two of his ESP guitars at the event. He said he was proud to have his work on display at the museum. “There’s no other place like this,” James said. “The Petersen is the pinnacle. It’s the best place to have your vehicles. They weren’t doing me much good sitting in my garage. I loved looking at them. The best part is they’re all together. I didn’t want to auction them off and [have them] go all over the world. It’s a collection. It marks my life.”

Also in attendance were Robert Trujillo, along with former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and Alice In Chains guitarist/vocalist and Hetfield personal friend Jerry Cantrell. The exhibit officially opens to the public on February 1 and will also feature guitars and other memorabilia in addition to the cars. It’s expected to remain at the Petersen into October.

Among the cars on display at “Reclaimed Rust: The James Hetfield Collection” are Voodoo Priest, based on a ’37 Lincoln Zephyr, a ’36 Auburn roadster named Slow Burn, a Delahaye inspired ’34 Packard, a ’36 Ford in bare metal called Iron Fist, a purple ’56 Ford F-100 pickup truck and Skyscraper, Hetfield’s 1953 Buick Skylark.

As previously reported, a book about Hetfield’s cars, “Reclaimed Rust: The Four-Wheeled Creations Of James Hetfield”, will be released on May 5 via Insight Editions. In the book, Hetfield opens up his garage for an exclusive tour of the highlights of his incredible collection of restored and customized classic cars.