The members of Metallica have been reflecting on singer-guitarist James Hetfield's return to rehab in September 2019, saying: "We really didn't see it coming."
The band's Lars Ulrich (drums), Kirk Hammett (guitar) and Robert Trujillo (bass) have discussed their friend and bandmate Hetfield's struggles in an interview in Metal Hammer magazine ahead of the release of the quartet's new live album, S&M2, on August 28.
The album was recorded in San Francisco in September last year; Ulrich, Hammett and Trujillo announced Hefield's return to rehab later that month.
"We really didn't see it coming," says Trujillo. "James seemed like he was fine, but then you look back and you try to analyse the situation over time and see where there were red flags."
"Being on the road can be very challenging, and I would imagine for James, to get up there in front of all those people and have to be 'on'... Meanwhile, your family's not with you and all these things are going on - it builds up," the bassist adds.
Guitarist Hammett describes such situations as "so deeply unsettling".
"It comes as a shock," he continues. "You have to do a bit of scrambling just to cover some ground."
"I'm an only child, so these guys have been in my life longer than anybody else other than my parents," says drummer Ulrich.
"We know what the MO is. As you see your brothers, your friends, your partners go through ups and downs for decades, you know what the process becomes."
The full interview is in the new issue of Metal Hammer magazine, on sale now.
The world's biggest metal band are on the cover of the new issue of Metal Hammer as they gear up to release S&M2 @Metallica https://t.co/YQFlfBqZQ6
— metalhammer (@MetalHammer) August 20, 2020
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