Don’t miss the wild backstory of the one love song James Hetfield was actually embarrassed to show the rest of Metallica—a song he thought would never fit their world of heavy riffs and thrashing drums. At first, he kept it hidden, too nervous to admit he’d written something so raw and vulnerable. But when he finally let the band hear it, that so-called “soft” ballad exploded into one of Metallica’s greatest hits. What Hetfield once felt ashamed of became a track that fans still scream for at every concert—a reminder that even the toughest rock gods have a side they’re afraid to show.

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There’s one ballad that James Hetfield was “ashamed” to bring to Metallica that ended up being one of their greatest hits! The frontman of the legendary metal act opened up to Howard Stern about the origin of their power ballad “Nothing Else Matters” prior to performing the hit on his show. Stern suggested that Hetfield was “embarrassed” to show the love song to the Metallica guys, which the frontman agreed with. For a guy known as The Man of Metal, I can imagine it might be a bit tough to show your soft side!

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“Nothing Else Matters” eventually made it to Metallica’s 1991 self-titled record thanks to drummer Lars Ulrich, who heard the song and pushed for its inclusion, despite Hetfield’s objections. The song showed a huge progression in Metallica’s style at the time, as the band had never recorded a deeply personal love song like this before, and they really haven’t since then either. The Music Man has to say that despite Hetfield’s reluctance to write ballads, he sure knows how to make them hit right in the chest!

After sharing the story of “Nothing Else Matters,” Metallica then kicked into a majestic performance of the classic hit, which opens with one of Kirk Hammett’s most beautiful guitar solos. Fans were loving the live studio session on the song, and added comments such as “I’ve likely listened to this song over 5000 times in my life and I still cracked goosebumps” and “I am glad that they do whatever they feel like and are not afraid of fan reactions. ‘Cause their ballads are bangers.”

Ulrich commented in the interview that it was not only Hetfield who resisted bringing “Nothing Else Matters” to Metallica, as some of their fanbase resented the stylistic shift at the time. Ulrich was unapologetic about the move, saying that he thinks it’s a good thing to “challenge” their fanbase sometimes with new ideas. Metallica also dropped a special performance of “Nothing Else Matters” for their S&M2 concert, which featured a lush arrangement thanks to the inclusion of the San Francisco Symphony.

Metallica released “Nothing Else Matters” as the third single from their 1991 self-titled album, which is commonly known as The Black Album. The Music Man readers may recall that the ballad is notable for being the first time that Hetfield fully leaned into melodic singing throughout a song, rather than his famously savage roar. This change in vocal direction was fostered by producer Bob Rock, who challenged the band with unfamiliar recording techniques during the album’s grueling eight-month recording process. The change in sound, although controversial at the time, went down a treat with the majority of Metallica’s fanbase. Ulrich has since named “Nothing Else Matters” as one of the band’s ‘must play’ songs at every show, along with a small list of other fan-favorite staples such as “Enter Sandman” and “Master of Puppets.”

 

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