Metallica frontman James Hetfield has made a statement during one of the bands’ recent shows explaining why you’ll likely not get many political speeches during the metal titans’ performances, pulling no punches in expressing his belief that his band are there to be entertainers and entertainers only.
Speaking onstage during the latest of Metallica’s ongoing residency shows at the Sphere in Las Vegas, which took place on Saturday night, October 10, Papa Het paid tribute to members of the Metallica ‘family’ that have travelled to see he and his four bandmates play.
“Unless you live in Vegas, you’ve come a long way to spend some time with Metallica,” he states in footage since posted to social media. “We’re grateful for that – your travels, the money you spend, the time it took, thanks for coming to celebrate with us.”
He then moves on to seemingly take a shot at artists who use their platforms for political means, adding: “And I just gotta say, Metallica is not here, like some other entertainers, to influence you with their bullshit, OK? We are here…no bullshit…we’re here to forget about all the outside shit, OK?
“Metallica’s agenda is love, energy and heavy music, baby!”
Watch his speech below.
The subject of musicians wading into political and social issues has been in the spotlight in recent weeks after US rapper Macklemore was controversially removed from Ed Sheeran’s stadium tour following an impassioned speech made on stage before one of Sheeran’s sets highlighting the plight of Palestinians affected by the conflict in Gaza.
While Metallica have undoubtedly written politicised songs in the past (the track …And Justice For All directly dealt with how money and power can corrupt the world of politics), the band themselves have largely stayed out of any political discourse over the years.
“My opinion stays with me,” Hetfield told La Tercera in 2017. “I’m a singer and guitar player in a rock band. I hate politics. I don’t wanna talk about politics. It’s not important to me. What’s important to me is connecting people with music. Politics, religion… they separate people.”
His bandmate Lars Ulrich has been a little more open with his political views – he once joked that he’d move back to Denmark if Donald Trump became President Of The United States (spoiler: he did not move back) – but the drummer has previously suggested politics is not something that comes up between Metallica’s members.
“I swear to you, I talk to James Hetfield about most things on this planet, but I don’t think I’ve ever wilfully had a political conversation with him,” he told Vulture in 2016. “We’ve spent 35 years together, and obviously we’ve been in the same room when the conversation went toward politics, but James and I sitting down in a room and discussing our particular views on something like affordable health care? Never happened.”
Metallica’s Las Vegas residency continues this month.
(LouderSound)
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