‘So hilarious, so relatable, so quirky’: Metallica’s Kirk Hammett reminisces about receiving a lift from David Bowie when he found himself without transportation to his hotel
“So hilarious, so relatable, so quirky”: Metallica’s Kirk Hammett reminisces about catching a ride from David Bowie
Metallica’s guitarist, Kirk Hammett, recently shared an anecdote about receiving a lift from David Bowie when he found himself without transportation to his hotel.
The encounter occurred after attending a Bowie concert in Kansas City, to which Hammett had been invited by the singer’s tour manager, Ian Jeffrey, who also happens to be Metallica’s former tour manager.
Following the show, Hammett, who was stranded without a ride back to his hotel, was approached by Bowie on his tour bus. Interestingly, both were staying at the same location.
In a new video shared on Metallica’s Instagram page and transcribed by Metal Hammer, Hammett recounted the moment: “The tour bus pulls up, and I had seen David Bowie in the gym earlier that day… stops, the door opens, and David Bowie’s head pops out, asking, ‘What are you guys up to? Need a lift to the hotel?’”
Excitedly, Hammett replied, “Oh my god… We don’t have a ride! We were going to catch a cab! Can we ride with you?” To which Bowie simply responded, “Yeah, come on!”
Hammett further described the experience, saying, “We sit down, and there he is, just like, ‘Hey!’, wearing a baseball cap. So funny, so personable, and so goofy.”
He also wrote about this memorable encounter in a blog post following Bowie’s passing in January 2016, at the age of 69.
“I felt like one of those guys in Wayne’s World,” Hammett wrote in the post, reflecting on the bus ride.
“We climbed the steps, entered the lounge, and there was David with a huge grin, saying, ‘Sit down, sit down.’
“Rоb [Trujillo, Metallica’s bassist] and I sat down, and once again, we couldn’t contain our fanboy excitement. I can’t recall all the details, but we did discuss topics like music and his fondness for the Dandy Warhols.
“I also remember apologizing to him, saying, ‘Sorry, David, for borrowing the title ‘Leρer Messiah’ [originally a lyric in Bowie’s 1972 song ‘Ziggy Stardust’], and he just laughed.”
Hammett also recounted meeting Bowie backstage immediately after his concert earlier that evening.
“He came out, dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, and greeted us with, ‘Hi, how ya doing Kirk, hi Rоb!’
“I couldn’t believe it! And then, all the fanboy excitement came out, expressing how much of an inspiration he’d been, and so on.
“He mentioned he’d known about us for a while, enjoyed our music, and encouraged us to keep going! Rоb and I were beaming.”
Currently, Metallica is taking a short break during their M72 world tour but will soon return to the road for a European leg from May to July, followed by performances in North America from August to September.