James Hetfield played the guitar solo on Metallica’s studio recording of Nothing Else Matters.
The song is unusual within Metallica’s catalog because lead guitarist Kirk Hammett does not play on the studio recording. Hetfield, the band’s rhythm guitarist and vocalist, handles the solo as well as the song’s main guitar parts.
Nothing Else Matters began as a private guitar idea Hetfield played while thinking about the band during a tour. The song developed into a power ballad with an exposed acoustic-guitar opening, orchestral color, and lyrics about emotional closeness and trust.
Hammett later learned the song for live performances, but he was not the studio soloist. This detail is often mixed up because Hammett is Metallica’s lead guitarist and normally plays many of the band’s featured solos.