METALLICA frontman James Hetfield was brought to tears by Elton John, after the acclaimed pianist and performer praised “Nothing Else Matters” as “one of the best songs ever written.”
METALLICA and Elton John appeared on The Howard Stern Show, alongside Miley Cyrus, to discuss Elton and Miley’s recent collaboration covering the classic “Nothing Else Matters” as part of the METALLICA Blacklist release.
“That idea came from Andrew Watt who produced the track and played guitar on it,” John began when talking about changing the song’s intro from guitar to piano. “He said, ‘I want you to start the song and finish the song, because I don’t want it to start with the guitar, because that’s how the original record started.”
“Listen, this is one of the best songs ever written, to me,” John continued. “It’s a song that never gets old. And playing on this track, I just couldn’t wait. The chord structure, the melodies, the time changes, it’s got drama written all over it.”
These comments would see Hetfield be brought to tears, overcome with emotion.
Elton also went as far as to call METALLICA musical icons, saying: “I have to say, it was a no-brainer playing on this song. Metallica are probably the crème de la crème of those kind of bands. You can’t really define them. They’re not a heavy metal band. They’re a musical band. Their songs aren’t just heavy metal. They’re beautiful songs. This is such a melodic song — it’s f**king great, actually.”
You can check out the full interview as well as a performance by METALLICA and Miley Cyrus below.