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Ever seen Metallica look this happy? Guess that’s what happens when you get to announce your new home in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Enjoy these pics of Metallica’s visit to the Fuse studios, and smile along with these legends of metal while you can. They’ll be back to growling and sneering before you know it. Hey, nobody does it better than Metallica — and now it’s official.
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To hear him tell it, Metallica’s James Hetfield wasn’t even aware that his band was eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It took Black Sabbath for him to realize it.

“I never thought much about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until we were approached to induct Black Sabbath in 2006, and then they asked us to play, which was like, ‘OK … we will!’ ” Hetfield laughed, talking to MTV News shortly before taking the stage for a “secret” SXSW Metallica set. “So we were there, and then they were saying, ‘You know, you guys are up for this in a few years.’ And I went, ‘Wow, really?’ And I started doing the math … ‘OK, 25 years after our first record … yeah, it’s now.’ And my first thought was ‘Man, it’s gone by very quickly.’ “

And so, when the Hall came calling earlier this year to tell Metallica that they’d made the cut, Hetfield wasn’t exactly surprised. But he was humbled.

“It’s very cool. I think we’ve paid our dues, and we’ve got a few fans who probably think the same thing,” he said. “There’s a lot of gratitude around it, the fact that we were acknowledged, and that, hopefully, we can help get some heavy music in. [Ideally] we’d kick the door open even further for some friends of ours — we’ve got a lot of friends that want to come in and be noted and represent a big part of rock and roll history.”

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Read more and see more videos from the night and event

The German-language television network 3SAT recently conducted an interview with METALLICA guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield about the band’s new album, “Death Magnetic”, the “Some Kind of Monster” movie and the use of METALLICA’s music to torture Guantanamo Bay, Cuba prisoners. “Part of me is proud is because they chose METALLICA,” Hetfield said about the reports that the band’s song “Enter Sandman” was used during the interrogation of Mohammed al-Qahtani — known as the 20th hijacker on Sept. 11 — and that listening to the track brought al-Qahtani to tears “because he thought he was hearing the sound of Satan.” James added, “It’s strong; it’s music that’s powerful. It represents something that they don’t like — maybe freedom, aggression… I don’t know… freedom of speech. And then part of me is kind of bummed about it that people worry about us being attached to some political statement because of that. We’ve got nothing to do with this and we’re trying to be as apolitical as possible, ’cause I think politics and music, at least for us, don’t mix. It separates people, [and] we wanna bring people together. So, so be it. I can’t say ‘Stop.’ I can’t say ‘Do it.’ It is just a thing — it’s not good or bad.”

Watch 3SAT’s entire 26-minute chat with Hetfield in three parts. (more…)

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield joined reactivated NWOBHM legends SWEET SAVAGE (based in Belfast, Northern Ireland) on stage at their August 20, 2008 concert at Marlay Park in Dublin, Ireland (where they supported METALLICA) for a rendition of the SWEET SAVAGE classic “Killing Time”. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be viewed below.

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James talks about ride the lightning…and the good ole days

METALLICA rocker JAMES HETFIELD is struggling to stay off alcohol as the band embark on another world tour.
The singer is a recovering alcoholic, who has managed 12 years without booze.
But he admits its a hard temptation to resist – particularly when the band is on the road.
Hetfield says, “The temptation to drink is with me for ever. When you’ve done something a certain way for so long, doing it a different way is difficult.
“You start to doubt yourself. I’ll never be cured. It’s one of those things that I’ll have to deal with all my life.” source

“OUR relationship is part of what makes Metallica special. If everything goes smooth all the time then something is wrong.

“You have to have friction as it creates energy, brainstorms, pro-activity and we go forward.”

Man-mountain James Hetfield is talking about his 27-year friendship with drummer and Metallica founder Lars Ulrich.

It’s one of rock’s most turbulent partnerships, a roller-coaster ride of egos, heavy boozing and over-indulgence. (more…)

Front-man James Hetfield: “It started out as kind of a tribute to people that have fallen in our business, like Layne Staley and a lot of the people that have died, basically – rock and roll martyrs of sorts. And then it kind of grew from there. Thinking about death… just like a magnet, some people are drawn towards it, other people are afraid of it and push away. The concept that we’re all gonna die sometimes is over-talked about and then a lot of times never talked about – no one wants to bring it up; it’s the big white elephant in the living room. But we all have to deal with it at some point.”

A five-minute interview with METALLICA guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield conducted yesterday (Wednesday, July 16) by VG TV at the opening show of the second leg of the band’s European summer tour in Bergen, Norway can be viewed below. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow.

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James was interviewed at the KROQ Weenie Roast. See both parts..

Part I

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This isn’t quite new, but WTF? James covers the song originally by Waylon Jennings(Don’t You Think This Outlaw Bit) and supposedly played all the instruments when recording this track. It seems he has changed his tune when it comes to side projects. I wonder what Jason thinks about it. It’s not that bad…if you like country…see the video…?Bob Rock on bass?… (more…)

Metallica got extra loud in their first live set in a year on Wednesday, headlining a benefit concert in Los Angeles for Flea’s music school for kids, the Silverlake Conservatory. That meant no ballads and no new songs from the band’s upcoming Rick Rubin-produced album. Instead, for nearly two hours at the Wiltern Theater, Metallica erupted with big sludgy riffs and epic speed metal going all the way back to the early Eighties.

“Now that’s a beautiful sound right there,” singer James Hetfield told the crowd, responding to the cheers from 2,000 fans who had paid $300 (or $500 for VIP seats) for a rare chance to see the band in a smaller venue. “It’s great to be playing live again.” (more…)