Metallica’s James Hetfield and wife Francesca Hetfield have separated after the musician filed for separation in secret.
According to sources familiar with the former couple, James petitioned in Colorado prior to this year, and their divorce merely slipped the public’s notice.
The couple dated for five years before getting married in 1997. Since then, they have welcomed three children: boy Castor, 22, and daughters Cali, 24, and Marcella, 20. According to reports, the respectable ex-couples are still in touch for the benefit of their kids.
Hetfield, 59, told Joe Rogan in 2017 that his short ex-wife, 52, was instrumental in helping him handle his rage and alcoholism. “Fear was a major incentive for me in that. The thought that I would lose my family and that they would no longer exist as a result of the bad habits I had brought with me from the road was the thing that terrified me the most. My wife forced me out of my home, and I was living elsewhere on my own when I didn’t want to.
He continued, “She immediately kicked my ass out of the house, and it terrified the living daylights out of me. I went somewhere and sorted this s-t out when she said, “Hey, you’re not just going to the psychologist now and talking about this; you’ve got to travel somewhere.”
He was desperate to “make things work” at the time because of his own troubled upbringing.
My family kind of fell apart when I was a youngster; maybe that’s part of my background,” he said. “Father left, mother passed away, I had to stay with my brother, and after that, I’m kind of just wondering where my stuff went. I don’t want that to occur. It just sort of flew away. Regardless of what is happening, we will speak it out and find a solution.