James Hetfield of Metallica files for divorce from wife of two decades
Aug 15, 2022
Washington [US], August 15 : American musician and Metallica frontman James Hetfield and his wife Francesca Hetfield have called it quits, as the rocker has quietly filed for divorce.
According to Page Six, sources close to the pair of exes have told TMZ that James filed in Colorado earlier this year and that the end of their marriage simply flew under the radar of the public.
The duo tied the knot in 1997 after dating for five years. They later welcomed three children, daughters Cali and Marcella, and son Castor. The respectful exes are reportedly still in contact for their children's sake.
Hetfield has previously credited his soon-to-be ex-wife for helping him get control of his anger and alcohol issues, telling Joe Rogan in 2017, "Fear was a big motivator in that for me."
He added, "Losing my family, that was the thing that scared me so much, that was the bottom I hit, that my family is going to go away because of my behaviours that I brought home from the road. I got kicked out of my house by my wife, I was living on my own somewhere, I did not want that."
Hetfield went on to elaborate, "she kicked my ass right out of the house and that scared the s--t out of me. She said, 'Hey, you're not just going to the therapist now and talking about this, you've got to go somewhere and sort this s-t out,' so that's what I did."
At the time, he was determined to "make it work" due to his own broken childhood.
"Maybe as part of my upbringing, my family kind of disintegrated when I was a kid. Father left, mother passed away, had to live with my brother, and then kind of just, where did my stuff go? It just kind of floated away, and I do not want that happening. No matter what's going on, we're going to talk this stuff out, and make it work," Hetfield explained, as per Page Six.
