During the Grammy Awards in February 2017, an unexpected and memorable collaboration took place: pop star Lady Gaga and Metallica joined forces for a performance of "Moth Into Flame," a track from Metallica's most recent album Hardwired… to Self-Destruct (2016).
However, a series of unfortunate events nearly turned the presentation into a disaster.
It all started when actress Laverne Cox introduced the band to the stage, but didn't mention her by name, only calling out Lady Gaga. Through X , an apology for what happened, addressed to Metallica and their fans, was posted by the actress.
James Hetfield 's microphone was muted, and there was no sign that the problem would be resolved. Gaga noticed the situation and approached the vocalist with her microphone, which was working correctly. So, they both sang together in an improvised way, but for Hetfield, this made the collaboration even more special.
“I felt embarrassed – I hadn’t been this angry in a long time. When something out of my control goes wrong, I still get upset. I’m sure it has to do with other things from my past, but I felt powerless. I agree that it ended up being a blessing, because I sang on the microphone with Lady Gaga – maybe even more than she would have liked. It felt more like a real collaboration because of that,” Hetfield told the New York Post .
Videos of the performance as it actually happened are virtually impossible to find, but there are recordings of the rehearsals, which show how everything was planned to happen. It's possible to see a rehearsal in a room , more "behaved," and another on stage , complete with pyrotechnics and dancers.
The meeting that brought Metallica and Lady Gaga together
Drummer Lars Ulrich told Access Hollywood how the contact with the singer and the invitation to perform came about: “We were asked if we would participate in the Grammys again. They encouraged us to consider 'Do you have any collaborations you think would be cool to do?' We said 'Let's think about it.' Then, I was at a dinner (with Gaga), and we were sitting next to each other, talking. I thought, 'Wait, that would be cool.' Then I said, 'We're doing the Grammys in a few months, do you want to participate with us?' and she replied, 'Yes, that would be great!'”
Interestingly, the dinner in question took place at the home of actor Bradley Cooper , who was with Gaga during the pre-production of the film A Star Is Born (2018), which he directed and starred the pair.
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