Does Hulk Hogan actually play the guitar?

Hulk Hogan was famous for playing the air guitar during his wrestling ring entrance. However, even in real life, Hogan used to be a musician and played the bass guitar. In fact, the controversial wrestling legend once apparently claimed that he nearly joined Metallica as their bass guitar player.

He would later clear the air about the same.

---

Did Hulk Hogan audition for Metallica to be their bass guitar player?

I scoured the internet for the best 4th of July gif ever made, and I present to you patriotic Hulk Hogan playing a guitar with fireworks. pic.twitter.com/kVLl8xIoLX

— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) July 3, 2017

During an interview with The Sun, Hulk Hogan claimed that Metallica wanted him to play bass guitar for them.

"I used to be a session musician before I was a wrestler. I played bass guitar. I was big pals with Lars Ulrich and he asked me if I wanted to play bass with Metallica in their early days but it didn't work out."

However, Lars Ulrich denied the rumors when he was asked about it during an interview on the Howard Stern Show.

During an interview with Kerrang!, Hulk Hogan cleared the air about the rumors surrounding joining Metallica. He said that while he would have joined Metallica given the chance, he never heard back from them.

"When I heard they were looking for a bass player, I got my tapes together from the old band, got a couple of tapes together that Simon Cowell produced with me — Green Jelly, and I did an old Gary Glitter song, 'Leader Of The Gang', with Simon, back in the day, before he got his break with all the wrestling music and became a huge monster. But I got all that stuff together to send it to Metallica and never heard a word. So they never responded to me."

---

How did playing guitar allow Vince McMahon to find Hulk Hogan?

Kyle O'Reilly using his NXT Tag Team Championship Belt as a guitar like Hulk Hogan back in the day! #NXTTakeOverPhiladelphia pic.twitter.com/bsjd4m7TjF

— THΣMICHΔΣLMURRΔΨ (@duvaltilidie) January 28, 2018

Before he joined WWE, Hulk Hogan was a bass guitar player. In fact, he played fretless bass guitar in several Florida rock bands. He even formed a band called Ruckus in 1976 which found success in the Tampa Bay area. By the time they formed Ruckus, Hogan had already been on the road for ten years.

“I started out playing guitar in junior high school because I wasn’t a big sports guy. I was into music and had long hair. So I started out playing guitar, and as things go as a music kid, you start playing in bands. So all of a sudden, I got in a really good band playing guitar, but then this different, really good guitar player came along—and this guy was really great. I had a choice: leave the band or start playing bass. So I chose to become a pretty darn good bass player.”

In fact, he got into wrestling because he was discovered by wrestlers at a gig, including Jack Brisco. Brisco introduced him to wrestling trainers and in a way helped discover Hulk Hogan. He mentored Hogan and helped him find success, wrestling all over the US, and then, finally, he met Vince McMahon. The rest, as they say, is history.