Metallica frontman James Hetfield paused during his October 10 concert to promise fans that he would not be using the stage to lecture them — and jabbed at other artists who have chosen to do so.
Hetfield, performing with the band during one of several shows at The Sphere in Las Vegas, took a moment to thank the fans for traveling to see the show.
“Unless you live in Vegas, you’ve come a long way to spend some time with Metallica. We’re grateful for that — your travels, the money you spend, the time it took, thanks for coming to celebrate with us,” he said.
Then, he pivoted to address the recent rash of artists who have used the stage as a platform to promote certain political issues or agendas, and he made it clear that Metallica was having none of it.
“I just gotta say, Metallica is not here, like some other entertainers, to influence you with their bullsh*t, okay? We are here … no bullsh*t … we’re here to forget about all the outside sh*t, okay? Metallica’s agenda is love, energy, and heavy music, baby!”
Some thought Hetfield was referring to rapper Macklemore, whose anti-Israel antics effectively blew up Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour. Sheeran was left without his opening acts and even his back-up band — all of whom quit the tour in solidarity after promoters dropped Macklemore.
Others assumed he was talking about Paramore singer Hayley Williams, who shouted “F*ck ICE” and “Free Palestine” during her recent show in Chula Vista, CA.
In response to Williams, the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that the singer should be grateful for ICE agents keeping her safe.
“America is grateful all the time for our federal law enforcement officers who keep us safe. We suggest Ms. Williams to thank them for their service, not belittle their sacrifice,” a DHS spokesman said.
Williams, undeterred, posted her response via Instagram stories: “And may I suggest all Nazi b*tches suck on my fat d*ck.”
Hetfield, for his part, has made it a point to stick to the music and leave politics out of it.
“There’s a lot of polarization going on in the [United] States, and I see it other places as well. But it just seems like you have to get more extreme to balance out the other extreme,” he told the BBC in 2016.
“We’ve got to find some balance in the middle here somewhere. We stay away from politics, from religion. That just seems to polarize people even more. We all have our own beliefs but, at the end of the day, we’re trying to connect with people and it seems like political views don’t do that as much as music does.”
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