Kirk Hammett of Metallica is a vegan

[Ivan May]

According to the website societyofrock.com, Kirk Hammett, the lead guitarist for Metallica, is a vegan, and apparently has been a vegan for years.

 

Kirk is quoted as saying: "Metallica’s lead guitarist Kirk Hammett may be one of the greatest guitarists of all time, playing on stage for more than 30 years. He’s also been a vegetarian for more than 30 years. He turned vegetarian in early 1985 and not all fans were accepting of it. In fact, Hammett recalls one concert in 1985, he was assaulted for being vegetarian by a fan as the crazed audience member threw a pig’s head onto him on stage. The guitarist was infuriated at having to play while his guitar smelled of Devilled Ham. Unlike many of the rock stars who turned vegetarian, Hammett does not eat meat because of his sympathy to animals and animal cruelty. He is a lacto-ovo vegetarian meaning he eats eggs and dairy products. He’s not even fazed by the fact that his bandmate Janes Hetfield is a hunter, explaining
“I am a vegetarian but not because I love animals. I am one because I think eating animals is not good for your health. James’ hunting doesn’t affect me at all, as I have a lot of taxidermy in my house.”

 

As for the other members of Metallica, I don't think Jason Newsted or Lars Ulrich are vegetarians or vegans. I do know, however, that James Hetfield is not a vegetarian.

 

You learn something new every day!

[KuruPrionz]

As long as he doesn't eat human flesh, feces or lutefisk, I don't care what his diet is and even in the 3 cases at the beginning of this sentence "as long as I don't have to smell it." works for me. 😃

[Sharkman]

Adolf Hitler was also a vegetarian.  In fact, several years ago, somebody tracked down one of Hitler's food tasters Who made sure his food wasn't poisoned.  Not my dream job, but that's just my opinion.  Anyways, she confirmed that he only ate vegetarian meals.

[desertbluesman]

I have vegan friends, and they seem to be humane folks. I was a strict vegetarian for over 24 years, I did eat dairy while a vegetarian but never went all the way to vegan. I was also a union bricklayer while I was a vegetarian and I still worked hard the same as I did in my carnivorous years. These days I eat mostly organic foods but still eat a small portion of meat with my meals.

[Scott Fraser]

I haven't eaten any meat since 1968 and I still don't sound like Kirk Hammett, for better or worse.

[LX888]

One of the STUPID things that I was told in my worthless high school education is that eating meat is essential to human heath

 

There is a ton of information out there that contradicts this. One place to start might be the book The China Study by T. Colin Campbell

 

I have no allegiance to meat eating.... I guess a majority of so called normal people tend to do this....but I feel pretty good at the end of each day knowing that no creature had to suffer to provide my breakfast lunch or dinner.

[Larryz]

I gave up the hunting and fishing I had done all my life, as I don't like killing, cleaning and skinning wild or even domestic game for food.  I still like my hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, fillet minion, chicken, turkey, fish, etc., all wrapped up nicely at the grocery store.  I'm pretty sure most guitar players in the USA eat meat.  I'm not knocking Kirk Hammett and the other vegans and vegetarian guitar players out there, but I don't think it has anything to do with playing the guitar.  As a cab driver once said "what's the fastest way to Carnage Hall? Practice"...😎

[surfergirl]

My boyfriend and his father hunt I go along for the ride. We don't like killing animals, but Oahu has invasive species that are not native and are destroying our very fragile ecosystem and native species, many of which are now endangered. The feral pigs, sheep and goats are multiplying faster than they can be hunted. Unlike the mainland we have no place to relocate them. They have adopted out some goats, but not nearly enough, as few people have space for one. 

 

[Shamanzarek]

There are many degrees of veganism. You could eat potato chips and other junk food and still call yourself a vegan. I became vegan in 1977 strictly for health reasons. For the first few years I ate only raw uncooked food. I grew wheatgrass, various sprouts, some vegetables, and collected fruits that a lot of people overlooked at the time like persimmons, pomegranates, avocados, and loquats. That is a rather difficult discipline to maintain unless you live alone which I did at that time. Gradually I started incorporating some cooked food and prefer to do my own cooking from scratch as much as possible. I still eat a good amount of uncooked food, mostly fruit in the morning and leafy greens at dinner time. I consider it important for health reasons to eat a significant amount of raw food every day.

[Lokair]

First, how is this relevant to how he plays guitar? 

I know I am an Omnivore as mankind has been through out history. People make choices that effect them and not me, good for them, I do that too.

 

Lok

[MetallicaFan]

FALSE; Hitler was NOT a vegetarian in the classic sense, it’s in some thing that he was dedicated to or had any unique interest in —-Hitler was a maniac, racist and a sociopath… and he tried different diets, as he read bogus documents about extending his life etc.. He was on an all meat all sausage diet….. yes he tried vegetarianism for a while…he tried all kinds of weird injections and vitamin therapies he did some stuff with blood transfers, He jumped all over the place —-somehow though people come up with this narrative “Hitler was a vegetarian” as if in someway that has anything to do with an assessment of flesh free diet.  

[Dannyalcatraz]

I’m an omnivore.  I could probably go vegetarian for any arbitrary amount of time- I sometimes go meatless for days or weeks- but I could never go vegan.  Too much love for honey, eggs & dairy.

[desertbluesman]

I was a strict veterinarian for 25 years starting in the 1960's until 1982 or so.I was even a union bricklayer during those years. Then one day I stopped in to a Burger King and got a whopper, and loved every bit of that sandwich that day and that ended my vegetarianism for good......... I eat mostly veggies now, with a little Turkey or Chicken meat and rarely a steak.

[Sharkman]

Adolf Hitler really was a vegetarian, as confirmed by one of his official food tasters, as well as a friend of mine who was a World War II historian.  Now, if you're in the mood to laugh, you'd better be sitting down for this.  The main reason Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian wasn't because he felt that he was morally superior to others (although he probably did think that way).  Eating meat made Hitler fart a lot.  It's hard to be billed as a "Great Leader" when you are a farting machine. 

[desertbluesman]

Quote

It's hard to be billed as a "Great Leader" when you are a farting machine. 

🤣