Metallica vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield recently made clear that the band’s live shows are no place for ‘influencer’ antics or presumably, political, etc. opinions. Addressing the crowd during the band’s October 10th stop of their ongoing residency at The Sphere In Las Vegas, NV, the thrash metal legend went on to say:
“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. And I just gotta say, Metallica is not here, like some other ‘entertainers’, to influence you with their bullshit, OK? We are here — no bullshit — we’re here to forget about all the outside shit, OK? Metallica’s agenda is love, energy and heavy music, baby!”
While Metallica operate as one of the largest bands in the world, the group have collectively separated their politics from their art for the most part — at least in modern times. Instead, the band channel their outside interests into their All Within My Hands charity. That organization often donates to local food banks in each city they play, while the group are also known to hold blood drives, donate to natural disaster relief, and fund scholarly pursuits, among other non-partisan endeavors, via that non-profit.
