Scorpions

$76K Later, Kirk Hammett’s Ozzy-Era Guitar Finds a New Home—and No Encore

A custom Gibson CEO4 guitar, once cradled by METALLICA’s Kirk Hammett during Ozzy Osbourne’s swan song in Birmingham—the “Back To The Beginning” concert—has just exited stage left into collector territory for $76,800.

Played and autographed amid Black Sabbath’s ceremonial return, the instrument was auctioned well beyond its projection, brushing off modest estimates with a nonchalant elegance befitting its singular provenance.

Kirk Hammett trades amps for anecdotes in stripped-down Tampa book tour video

Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett steps away from thunderous riffs to deliver an official video from his June 7, 2025, book tour event at the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Event Center. “The Collection: Live” isn’t a fanfare-soaked celebration but rather an intimate discussion surrounded by sober lighting and quiet anticipation.

Recorded footage shows Hammett unpacking the stories and obsessions behind his collection, shifting the spotlight from stadiums to sketchbooks. The event finds its interest not in volume, but in curiosity layered over decades of touring detritus.

Kirk Hammett Helped Spark Thrash—Then Left Exodus for Bigger Riffs in Metallica

In episode 113 of "The Metallica Report," Exodus guitarist Gary Holt revisits the early days when Kirk Hammett, before slipping into Metallica’s orbit, helped form Exodus with Tim Agnello, Tom Hunting, and Keith Stewart. Their shared musical blueprint, crafted in garages and grimy rehearsal spaces, would stir the early framework of what becomes thrash metal.

Holt gives Hammett quiet credit, noting that, for all intents and purposes, his presence in those embryonic jam sessions places him at the genre’s ignition point. The conversation plays like a rare archival document rather than a backstage anecdote.