Don't expect to see Metallica to go on a farewell tour, because guitarist Kirk Hammett doesn't believe musicians should ever stop honing their craft.
Hammett tells Metal Hammer, “I don’t believe in retirement. Retirement is something that’s been forced onto people; I don’t believe musicians are allowed to retire!”
The 62-year-old Hammett says that for musicians “in the 30s and 40s and 50s...the goal was to die onstage. This was the thinking of all musicians for the last century: Because you’ve earned the right to be up there, you have to fulfil that responsibility to the very end...
“Playing music is a gift, a blessing and a privilege. I love what I do and it’s magic -- it helps people. So I can’t walk away from that.”
IN OTHER METALLICA-RELATED NEWS......
If you've bought a guitar from an anonymous sellers on eBay or Reverb in the past few years, there's a good chance you've conducted a transaction with Kirk Hammett of Metallica.
Hammett tells Metal Hammer that he's been quietly selling guitars from his collection that he hasn't touched in years. “I’ll list them on eBay or Reverb, and I don’t say they’re mine. I get rid of a lot of guitars that way!
"I get anxiety because I believe guitars should be played... I don’t believe in just storing them away and forgetting about them. I feel guilty! So I have been on a quest to shrink my collection and get rid of the ones I don’t play.”