James Hetfield
James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is the rhythm guitarist , co-founder, main songwriter , and lead vocalist for the American heavy metal band Metallica . Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after answering a classified advertisement by drummer Lars Ulrich in the Los Angeles newspaper The Recycler , searching for band members. Since then, Metallica has won nine Grammy Awards and released nine studio albums, three live albums, four extended plays and 24 singles. In 2009, Hetfield was ranked number 8 in Joel McIver 's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists , and ranked twenty-fourth by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All Time.