Metallica’s pop hit turns 30

Worshiped worldwide, re-recorded more than 100 times, considered by Elton John “one of the best ever composed”, the heavy metal band’s song was barely even recorded. Cyrus and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra: Nothing Else Matters has had over a thousand cover versions. According to Coverinfo, it has been recorded at least 110 times. By the turn of the century, the song had already marked an epoch in rock history. This was something no one could have predicted when, in the late 1980s, Metallica frontman James Hetfield hummed absently in his hotel room, irritated by the stress of touring. For a long time, he didn’t even believe that a worldwide hit had come out of it. “I thought, ‘Nothing is less Metallica than this, it’s the last song anyone will want to hear,'” he revealed in 2012 to The Village Voice newspaper. Hetfield had to be convinced to include it on the 1991 album Metallica. On April 20, 1992, the American band released Nothing Else Matters as a single. Elton John gives his verdict In terms of text, the composer considers it a very intimate song: “A true testament to honesty and exposing yourself, putting your true self in the world and taking a risk”, he commented in the same interview. This isn’t necessarily the most typical content from one of the biggest metal bands in the world, as Metallica was at the time. Also from a musical point of view, some fans considered the ballad a slap in the face: after the electric guitar intro, an acoustic guitar comes on, only later heavy metal elements appear. Even more offensive to the more orthodox are the honeyed orchestral strings in the accompaniment. Almost 30 years later, however, Elton John would give his verdict: for him, Nothing Else Matters is “one of the best songs ever written”. The harmonies structure, melody and tempo variations make it a true dramatic piece, commented the British pop star on Howard Stern’s 2021 TV show. Hetfield said he was moved by those words. In 2020, the famous American ice skater duo Oona and Gage Brown performed a spectacular number to the music. However, even without choreography, Nothing Else Matters is practically synonymous with the band Metallica and, even 30 years after its release, one of the most cult pop songs. Author: Sven Toniges

Questions, Criticism and Suggestions? Talk to us