Kirk Lee Hammett was born on November 18, 1962, in El Sobrante, within the Mission District of San Francisco, California. The future rocker was born into a tiny Filipino family by his immigrant mother and merchant seaman father, Hiro Hammett. He lived in a cramp house with his parents and siblings, Ricky, Alanna, and Cynna. Kirk's mother introduced him to music by having him attend piano lessons, but he quit because he did not like the instructor. He attended school, in the area, with Primus' potential front man and bassist Les Claypool.

Kirk was into music from a very young age, being just old enough to catch the back end of the hippy explosion for which San Francisco was so famous in the late Sixties. Kirk learned how to play on his brother's guitar, by himself, while Ricky was away at school. However, he was only 15 years...