James Hetfield moved to 'quiet' Colorado to enjoy outdoors, escape 'elitist' Bay Area attitudes

James Hetfield of Metallica and wife Francesca (Photo by Rebecca Sapp/WireImage) James Hetfield of Metallica and wife Francesca (Photo by Rebecca Sapp/WireImage) Image 1 of / 33 Caption Close James Hetfield moved to 'quiet' Colorado to enjoy outdoors, escape 'elitist' Bay Area attitudes 1 / 33 Back to Gallery

After decades of life in the San Francisco Bay Area, Metallica's James Hetfield and his family now live in "super quiet" Vail, Colorado.

The reasons for the move, as Hetfield told radio show host Joe Rogan on a recent podcast, were multitudinous. First, as he says, he's loved visiting Vail because he can feel like "a part of nature" and take part in one of his favorite hobbies, hunting, with less judgment.

"I kind of got sick of the Bay Area, the attitudes of the people there, a little bit," Hetfield says. "They talk about how diverse they are, and things like that, and it's fine if you're diverse like them. But showing up with a deer on the bumper doesn't fly in Marin County. My form of eating organic doesn't vibe with theirs."

Hetfield also says that in the Bay Area, he felt "that there was an elitist attitude there — that if you weren't their way politically, their way environmentally, all of that, that you were looked down upon."

Vail was also their choice new home because his wife, Francesca, grew up there after being born in Argentina, and because he just feels more "at home" in the mountains.

"I love the ocean, and I love the Bay Area, I love what it's got to offer, but there's just an attitude that it was... It wasn't healthy for me," he adds. "[I was] starting to feel like I was just fighting all the time, and I just had to get out of my own head. So Colorado does it for me."

In 2008, Hetfield got in a tiff with some neighbors who were angered after the Metallica guitarist fenced off a portion of a popular hiking trail that went through his property.

Hetfield, however, still owns property and land in the Bay Area. The rocker is developing four homes on the 40 remaining acres of property on his Rocking H 1 Ranch above Lucas Valley in the North Bay. In recent years, he bought and donated more than 700 acres to the local Open Space District.

See the full interview below. (Note: NSFW - language.)

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