"I was like, 'Bro... Metallica's never been tighter and you want some yahoos to come jump in and try and be Hetfield? Is that what you're saying?' And they're like, 'Yeah'": Pepper Keenan remembers when he auditioned to dep guitar for Metallica

"I was like, 'Bro... Metallica's never been tighter and you want some yahoos to come jump in and try and be Hetfield? Is that what you're saying?' And they're like, 'Yeah'": Pepper Keenan remembers when he auditioned to dep guitar for Metallica

['Beth Simpson', 'News', 'Features Writer', 'Layer Van-Ds .Vds-Author Font-Size Var --Text-Base', 'Font-Size Var --Vds-Author-Font-Size', 'Var --Text-Base', 'Line-Height Var --Text-Base--Line-Height', 'Line-Height Var --Vds-Author-Line-Height', 'Var --Text-Base--Line-Height', 'Letter-Spacing Var --Tracking-Normal'] Latest from MusicRadar 2026-08-05 14:38:40

Corrosion of Conformity guitarist Pepper Keenan has let slip that he auditioned to dep James Hetfield for Metallica back in the early 1990s. But it seems that ten years earlier, Keenan was in the frame to handle six-string duties. This was when Hetfield had second-degree burns after an incident when he stepped on a pyro whilst they were on tour with Guns N’ Roses. Metallica's never been tighter in their entire fucking lives and you want some yahoos to come jump in and try and be Hetfield? “This was crazy talking - they're losing a million bucks a fucking day each day they ain't playing.