James Hetfield Personally Named Pepper Keenan to Replace Him After Injury

Corrosion of Conformity’s Pepper Keenan told of his shock and disbelief when he was asked to audition as a temporary member of Metallica in 1992.

The situation arose after James Hetfield sustained serious burns after walking into an onstage pyrotechnic, leaving him unable to play guitar.

Metallica’s management, Q Prime, began urgently searching for a temporary guitarist to keep the band’s tour with Guns N’ Roses on the road – which is where Keenan, who was on tour himself, came into the story.

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“My phone rang in my hotel at three in the morning, and it was Q Prime,” he told Garza Podcast in a recent episode. “I mean, ‘How did you even know I was here and what hotel?’”

He added that "they were putting the feelers out  … I was like, 'Bro, for one thing, it’s a stadium tour. Metallica’s never been tighter in their entire f---in' lives. And you want some yahoos to come jump in and try and be Hetfield. Is this what you're saying?’ And they’re like, yeah.'”

Watch Pepper Keenan Interviewed on 'Garza Podcast'

Despite his doubts, Keenan agreed to audition. But first he had to tell tourmate Henry Rollins what he was doing. “They sent me the [Metallica] music; they faxed it to the hotel room,” he said.

“I had to go tell Henry Rollins. I was like, ‘I don’t know how to explain this, Mr. Rollins … .’ And I flew to Denver, Colorado, the next day.”

He remained uncertain: “This is crazy talking. I mean, they’re losing a million bucks each day they ain’t playing. This was like real s---. And I’m a 20-year-old dude sitting in [their] place in Denver, Colorado – top secret bunker.

The Unexpected Bonus From Pepper Keena’s Brush With Metallica

“Hetfield was there ‘cause the best burn center in the United States [was nearby]. I’m like, ‘This is as big as it gets!’” Keenan recalled the vibe as “intense” and being concerned about the pressure of “learning that amount of songs that quickly and that good.

“I said, ‘Man, this ain’t gonna happen, dude.’ … And I think they ended up getting his tech to do it.”

There was an unexpected bonus for Keenan – who would later audition to replace Jason Newsted in Metallica – in that he knew Hetfield had namechecked him as a potential solution to the 1992 issue. “And we became friends after that,” he said.