In 1981, Metallica was founded, marking eleven years after the inception of Heavy Metal music, if we take the first Black Sabbath album as the starting point. Even though it had just been more than ten years, a lot had transpired, and a lot of bands had formed; yet, the oldest had already had several member changes and had altered in style. With the help of such inspirations, James Hetfield, Cliff Burton, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett were able to make their debut album in 1983. Dave Mustaine, the band’s previous guitarist, contributed several tunes to the album.
They were also developing a brand-new subgenre of rock and roll that would eventually be dubbed “Thrash Metal,” though they were unaware of it at the time. Other notable bands in that vein were Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax. However, Metallica continues to be the most popular and influential band in this genre of music. Over 125 million recordings are said to have been sold globally by the. James Hetfield has always received accolades for both his skill as a rhythm guitarist and his vocals, particularly for his distinctive voice. Throughout his career, he never missed a chance to honor his heroes. He therefore often praised one vocalist in particular.
The singer that James Hetfield said was amazing
In the 1980s, Metallica was a relatively young band on the scene, but today they are undoubtedly the biggest heavy metal band in the world, continually touring and releasing new songs. They were also among the select few metal bands that prevailed over grunge in the 1990s.
Hetfield had the opportunity to meet and become friends with several of his heroes throughout the years. Hetfield described one of them as the late, great vocalist Ronnie James Dio, calling him outstanding. In the 1970s, Dio rose to stardom as the lead vocalist for Elf, a band that opened for Deep Purple. It was because of that trip that Ritchie Blackmore took notice, and a few years later, he would ask Dio to join Rainbow.
He again made history in 1979 when he joined Black Sabbath following his departure from the band. He was essential in enabling them to carry on following Ozzy Osbourne’s firing. After a few years with Sabbath, he eventually achieved fame and started his band, Dio, which went on to create several critically acclaimed albums and successful singles.
The leader of Metallica reminisced on how great Dio was and disclosed that he never truly warmed up his vocals before a show in a 2016 interview with Music Radar. “When we did the Ronnie Dio tribute record. We did this medley of a bunch of different Dio songs. I just realized how fucking amazing that guy was. And it pissed me off, because when I met him I said, ‘Hey, can I hear your warmup tape? What do you do? What’s your secret to all of this?’”
He added, “And he said, ‘Well, I just have a little glass of wine and go out and sing.’ What?! Yeah right! But I don’t think he was BS’ing me. He was just a natural singer and he had a range that had power all the way through it. He just continues to challenge me which is great.”
He chose Dio as the best singer of all time when the musician was still alive
A year before Dio died away, in 2008, Rolling Stone asked several performers to rank the greatest vocalists of all time in their eyes. Hetfield made a list of 20 candidates, including Ronnie James Dio at number one. He was fronting the Black Sabbath spin-off band Heaven & Hell at the time. Vinny Appice, Geezer Butler, and Tony Iommi also formed it. Freddie Mercury, Rob Halford, Steven Tyler, Robert Plant, and Johnny Cash were among the other well-known people in front of him.
During a 2017 Newsweek interview, Hetfield was questioned about his involvement in the Dio tribute album. He claimed that it was the least they could have done to pay tribute to the incredible vocalist’s legacy.
James said, “The ‘Ronnie Rising Medley’ was kind of a combination of all the good stuff we loved from Dio. It’s great to challenge myself with singing stuff like that. It helps me grow. And it also helps me push limits that I think I’m stuck in.”