By Mitch Rice
Heavy metal is a music genre that stems from rock music. This genre of music was brought to life in the 60s and early 70s. The United Kingdom and the United States of America were primarily influenced by heavy metal in their beginning since that’s where the genre developed first in its early stages. Like any other music genre, heavy metal has been associated with the use of musical instruments and monumental sounds. Guitar solos, distorted guitars, and loud, emphatic beats make the heavy metal genre what it is to date. Nothing much has changed with the instruments and the sounds linked to the genre.
Among the pioneers of this music genre were Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin, who came up in 1968. Despite being founders of heavy metal, they were linked to much adverse criticism, mostly from non-heavy metal fans.
But as Led Zeppelin said in one of their songs, “Lots of people talk, and few of them know” it is not always as it seems. Heavy metal artists have surprisingly soft hobbies people just can’t believe it’s true.
What Hobbies Do Heavy Metal Artists Share In Common?
A hobby, simply put, is a behavior, a habit, or practice that an individual enjoys doing in his free time. So, which hobbies can we find among heavy metal musicians? Well, let’s find out now!
James Hetfield
We, of course, must start this list with the one and only James Hetfield, a frontman of Metallica and a pioneer of thrash metal. In a Joe Rogan podcast, Hetfield revealed that he enjoys raising bees at his ranch in California. In his free time, he is a beekeeper. In addition to that, he also builds handmade tables for charity. He even recorded a song in 2011 in collaboration with Lou Reed, and in the lyrics of that song, you can find one interesting: “I Am The Table”. That shortly after became a meme on all Social media.
Lemmy Kilmister
Speaking of Hetfield, it is only fair to mention his biggest idol, Lemmy, the lead singer of the rock band Motörhead. Even though he died in 2015, Lemmy lived an interesting life. He enjoyed spending his free time gambling. His passion for gambling gave him the inspiration to create many songs, among which is his most famous song, The Ace of Spades, which is an Ace from a deck of cards. He spent most of his free time either playing blackjack or slot games.
Dave Mustaine
Another artist that can be tied to Metallica is Dave Mustaine. A lot of people do not know that, but he was actually a lead guitarist of Metallica in their first album, “Kill ‘Em All”. Later, he had some disagreements with the band and was replaced with Kirk Hammett. Mustaine went on to create Megadeth, another thrash metal band that made it huge on the scene and became one of the best thrash metal bands ever. As for his hobbies, he owns a 11-acre ranch where he holds stables and spends his free time breeding horses. You would never guess that, would you?
Dave Grohl
Another Dave and another artist who started his career in one band and went to create another one. Grohl was a drummer for Nirvana from 1990 to 1994. After the unfortunate event, he formed a one man project Foo Fighters, which later became a famous band. Dave spends his free time doing many things; he served as an ambassador for the climate change campaign Global Cool. He is also an advocate for whiteknot organization, which promotes marriage equality. He is known all over the industry for being a nice guy and he earned a reputation of being “the nicest guy in rock”.
Jason Richardson
Jason Richardson is the lead guitarist of the heavy metal band All That Remains. He is one of the guitar world’s foremost shredders. In his free time, he, of course, plays guitar, but he also likes to play and watch Esports games. In addition to that, Richardson recorded a song for the Esports organization G2, a power metal anthem titled “Our Way”.
Bruce Dickinson
This list wouldn’t be full without Bruce Dickinson, the frontman of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Bruce probably has the most interesting hobby out of all heavy metal artists. He has a pilot license for Boeing 747, and he flies planes. In fact, Iron Maiden made a 2016 world tour where he piloted the tour plane. That allowed them to visit places they never even thought to play at.
