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One of the godfathers of Thrash Metal, singer, songwriter and guitarist James Hetfield is one of the most important Metal musicians of the past decades and has influenced countless bands. Although he has always was a bigger fan of heavier and faster music, his musical taste is quite broad. Throughout his career, Hetfield has shared his opinions on many important American bands, including the Southern Rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd. What is James Hetfield's opinion on Lynyrd Skynyrd "'Sweet Home Alabama' was one of the first records I ever bought. Now I've got a juke-box at home and Skynyrd takes up half of it. Definitely plenty of guitars going on there. The lyrics to 'Simple Man' are really extra meaningful for me. In the middle of this huge rock and roll machine, it brings you down to earth," James Hetfield said after listing Skynyrd's 1973 debut album as one of his favorites in an interview with Vic Garbini in the 90s, although only "Simple Man" is from that first album, "Sweet Home Alabama" was released on "Second Helping" (1974). Lynyrd Skynyrd is one of his favorite bands and he also loves "Free Bird", one their most successful songs, since he told Rolling Stone it was one of his favorites of all time. “Nothing tops this workingman’s ballad. ‘Free Bird’ fit my life for the first 20 years on the road. Not really getting too attached to stuff, living life for the moment and moving on,” James Hetfield said. The first two Lynyrd Skynyrd albums are the most praised by the band’s original line-up, which tragically suffered a plane crash in 1977 that killed three members: Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Steve Gaines (guitar), and Cassie Gaines (backing vocals). The crash also claimed the lives of the band’s assistant road manager, as well as the pilot and co-pilot of the aircraft. James Hetfield listed Ronnie Van Zant as one of the best singers of all time In Hetfield's opinion, the band's late vocalist and songwriter Ronnie Van Zant was one of the greatest singers in the history of music. He mentioned him when Rolling Stone magazine asked in 2008 for a list of the best singers of all time. Among the 20 chosen, he placed Ronnie at number 12, ahead of names like Freddie Mercury (Queen) and Johnny Cash. As Metallica fans know, James had the chance to pay tribute to Van Zant when the band covered Tuesday’s Gone, featured on their 1998 cover album "Garage Inc." One of the special guests on the track was Gary Rossington, the original Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist. Gary Rossington played live with James Hetfield and Metallica https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-SfCb3hGWo&list=RDP-SfCb3hGWo&start_radio=1&pp=ygUaZ2FyeSByb3NzaW5ndG9uIG1ldGFsbGxpY2GgBwE%3D In 2011, when Metallica celebrated their 30th anniversary, the musician joined them on stage to perform that track. Unlike other covers of that album like "Whiskey in the Jar", Metallica did not play their version live many times. According to Setlist.FM, the Thrash Metal group only played the song live five times, three in 1997, one in 1998 and one in 2011 (with Gary). More recently, in 2019, they performed a snippet of Sweet Home Alabama during their show in Birmingham, Alabama. Usually, only bassist Rob Trujillo and guitarist Kirk Hammett play these covers in the middle of the set, but this time Hetfield couldn’t resist and joined them, singing a few lines of the song. Gary Rossington passed away in 2023 at the age of 71 and James shared a special message on Metallica’s social media. He said: “R.I.P. Brother Gary. Thank you for bringing me so much joy with your guitar playing and songwriting in one of my all time favorite bands, Lynyrd Skynyrd.” "The Four Horsemen" was inspired by "Sweet Home Alabama" Before forming Megadeth, guitarist and singer Dave Mustaine was a member of Metallica. The song ‘The Four Horsemen’ was originally called ‘Mechanix’, and Mustaine wrote the main guitar riff. After he was fired from the band, the remaining members reworked the track, but he was still credited as one of the writers. When Megadeth released their debut album in 1985, Mustaine recorded the song in its original form. Interestingly, in an interview with Eddie Trunk in 2018, Mustaine recalled how "Sweet Home Alabama" inspired that main riff he wrote. “Cliff (Burton) was really a wonderful human being,  we used to ride to rehearsal together. I remember this one story in particular. We were smoking some really terrible pot, it was homegrown, so it was really awful. We were listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd, because Cliff loved Lynyrd Skynyrd.” He continued: “I like them but not as much as he did because we were listening to them everyday. So one day we get to rehearse and we were playing the song ‘Mechanix’. (That song) had been changed to ‘Four Horsemen’ and I will tell you why. So we get there and Lars goes ‘Oh fuck, man. We need to slow this song down a little bit, man’. And I went ‘Huh, really?’ Because we were supposed to be fast, loud and rude.” “So I pick up my guitar and I go (plays ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ riff). Now go back and listen to ‘Four Horsemen’ again. So I played that riff in the middle and Lars goes ‘Fuck man, that’s fucking brilliant man’. And I went ‘Oh my God’. So I (changed a little bit of the riff) and that’s the difference between ‘Four Horseman’ and ‘Mechanix’. It’s the bastardized version of Lynyrd Skynyrd thanks to Cliff,” Dave Mustaine said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). The post James Hetfield’s opinion on Lynyrd Skynyrd appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.