Metallica + Lady Gaga Rock ‘Moth Into Flame’ at Grammy Awards, Grammys Forget to Turn on James Hetfield’s Mic
Metallica and Lady Gaga took the stage at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards to rock a fiery performance of "Moth Into Flame." Once the Grammys decided to turn James Hetfield's mic on, the performance was pretty cool, though Hetfield seemed furious at its conclusion.
Metallica promised "something very unique and special" upon announcing their performance at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. Not long after we found out that they would be taking the stage with pop star and self-professed metal fan Lady Gaga.
However, the collaboration got off to a shaky start before a note was played as Orange Is the New Black actress Laverne Cox flubbed her introduction of Metallica, forgetting to mention the band while giving a shoutout to Lady Gaga.
"Moth Into Flame" started powerfully but lost steam once Hetfield's vocals couldn't be heard at all, though Lady Gaga's mic was on during the call-and-response verses. Hetfield was visibly upset when he realized he wasn't turned on, eventually forcing him to share a mic with Gaga from the first chorus onward. The Grammys finally turned James' mic on at the beginning of the second verse, but that didn't seem to cool Hetfield's temper.
After "Moth Into Flame" ended, Hetfield kicked away his mic stand and threw his guitar to his tech in disgust. Sadly, what could have been a phenomenal performance turned out to be somewhat of a disaster.
During a recent appearance on Zane Lowe's Apple Music show, Gaga revealed how she first came in contact with Metallica. “[I] was at Bradley [Cooper]’s house with Lars [Ulrich] and we were just like, hanging out,” revealed the singer, who added that meeting and talking with Ulrich was “amazing.”
She went on to add, “I’ve gotta tell you something: I went to see [Metallica] live. I mean, I’ve seen them a couple of times live, but I saw them live recently, and we were watching the show and I’ll tell you something, those guys play better than they’ve ever played in their whole lives.”
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