What Elton John Really Thinks About Metallica & Their Classic “Nothing Else Matters”
Elton John Revealed His True Feelings About Metallica
Hello head bangerz, welcome to the club. Today we talk about Metallica, Elton John and their unexpected collaboration on the classic rock ballad Nothing Else Matters.
Metallica recently joined the Howard Stern show, where they promoted the The Metallica Blacklist collection and performed 'Nothing Else Matters' in the company of Miley Cyrus.
It was precisely this song that motivated a surprise appearance, via Zoom, of one of the artists who sings 'Nothing Else Matters' in the compilation: Elton John.
For the British musician, the Metallica ballad is "one of the best songs ever". "It's a song that never gets old. The chords, the melodies, the tempo variations... There's drama written all over the place," he said.
“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.”
At this point, a listening Hetfield is overcome with emotion, as tears well up in the frontman's eyes.
John also had much praise for Metallica in general, labelling them musical icons.
“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 great, actually.”
Elton John's praise left James Hetfield visibly moved and in tears, a moment that was eventually captured on video.
See the full story in video format below:
Love Rock and want to keep up with all the new releases?
Follow our Modern Rock Playlist:
