The one band that made James Hetfield become a “total fan boy”
Metallica frontman James Hetfield has been selling out stadiums for decades. Given his legacy and impact on the industry, it can become easy for a musician of his stature to forget what it’s like to enjoy attending concerts as a fan. However, there are still bands that Hetfield will go out of his way to see live if given the opportunity.
One of those acts is Queen. While Queen is a different band in comparison to the Freddie Mercury era, Hetfield is still in immense awe of Brian May and the rest of the group. While he’s carved out a staggeringly impressive career of his own, the Metallica frontman reverted to his inner child when he witnessed Queen dominate the stage. In fact, Queen were one of the major reasons he sought a career as a musician in the first place.
In 2017, Metallica’s tour rolled into Toronto the day before Queen came to town, a moment which allowed Hetfield to attend a show by his childhood heroes at the Air Canada Centre. Due to his heavy tour commitments, Hetfield’s chances to see concerts by other bands are limited, but Queen helped remind him why he became a musician.
Taking to Metallica’s YouTube page, Hetfield gleefully described the evening: “Queen has been a huge inspiration in the early days for me guitar-wise, especially Brian May. Just watching Brian May, there was a moment in the show, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, it was like this rock and roll dream I was looking at. I was right at the sound desk, looking at him. There was this long ramp, he popped out of the middle just before his solo, there was smoke, and there’s a light behind him. His white hair, you know, this big white aura around him.”
He added: “He rises up out of the stage, and he is doing the solo, and he is in a giant silver cape from the seventies look. Kirk and I just looked at each other like, ‘Holy Shit! This is awesome! Total fan boys at that point. Then after the show (laughs), Brian May, he says, ‘I’m wondering if Kirk likes what I’m playing’. Then Kirk and I looked at each other again.”
To make the night even better, May allowed both Hetfield and Hammett to play with his prized guitar, which the Metallica frontman described as “a super memorable and redundantly unforgettable moment”. He also said he hopes to be “that cool and that down to earth” when he reaches the same age as the Queen guitarist.
Watch the footage below of Metallica covering Queen’s track ‘Stone Cold Crazy’.
