In 2026, even the most casual on stage comment can get carried around the world and get turned into a ‘talking point’ via social media.
Take James Hetfield, for example. Last Saturday (10 October) at one of Metallica’s Sphere shows, the frontman took time to thank the audience for turning up and supporting the band. An uncontroversial thing to do, of course.
Hetfield said: “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.”
He then continued: “And I just gotta say, Metallica is not here, like some other entertainers, to influence you with their bullshit, OK. No bullshit. We’re here to forget about all the outside shit, OK? Metallica’s agenda is love, energy and heavy music, baby!”
Many on social media have interpreted this as some sort of dig at Macklemore and the recent controversy over his pro-Palestine comments on the Ed Sheeran Loop tour. Who knows? Hetfield didn’t mention Macklemore by name. He could have also been referring to countless other artists, from Lennon to Springsteen to the (Dixie) Chicks who have all ‘done’ politics at some point or other.
Anyway, since then a clip of Nikki Sixx from Mötley Crüe saying much the same thing as Hetfield has gone viral on the socials. Recorded at the North Carolina date on the Crüe’s Return Of The Carnival Of Sins tour, it shows Sixx saying: “It does not matter to Mötley Crüe if you're a Republican, it does not matter to Mötley Crüe if you are a Democrat, it does not fucking matter if you are gay or straight, or if you're right down the centre of the fucking lane in life, because we are all in this together. Can we agree?”
Now, Roger Waters has lumbered in on this mini-kerfuffle with his usual understated charm. Appearing on Katie Halper’s podcast, the ex-Pink Floyd man said of Hetfield: “Can we stop talking about this prick? I’m so bored with him. He’s got an IQ of about three, and why we’re talking about him I honestly don’t know because he’s a nobody."
Waters then landed a below-the-belt blow: "He’s no musician. I heard them playing acoustic instruments, and they couldn’t. It was appalling.”
He added: “It’s a shame this prick didn’t have somebody around him to explain that being kind is way more important than all that loud music and bouncing around and whatever.”
Lovely.
Meanwhile, Metallica’s Sphere residency – with its loud music and bouncing around – continues through to March next year. Waters’ Pink Floyd Legacy tour, which one suspects will involve very little bouncing around, starts in February. Wouldn’t it be boring if everyone was the same?
