The Pulse of Radio reports: Most Christmas memories are good ones, but sometimes the holiday season can be traumatic as well — especially for younger kids. METALLICA's James Hetfield told The Pulse of Radio that his least favorite Christmas involved learning the truth about a certain figure in a red suit. "The worst Christmas was discovering that there was no Santa," he said. "You know, I had gotten up at whatever, one in the morning and walked out and saw my brothers carrying presents down to put under the tree, and I was like, 'What are you doing?' And so that was, the St. Nick bubble was burst."

Hetfield also told The Pulse of Radio that getting a football for the first time was one of his best Christmas presents, and that his sister actually got a lump of coal one Christmas for being a bad girl that year.

METALLICA is taking a holiday break but will resume touring in 2010 with jaunts to South America and Europe.