Metallica kicked off its weeklong residency on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, by sitting down for an interview, followed by a performance of “Lux Æterna,” the first single from their new album, 72 Seasons, out Friday, April 14.
In addition to the new album, the group — singer/guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo — talked about some of their other projects, including their marching band competition which invites bands of all levels to come up with unique performances of Metallica songs, with over $150,000 in prizes up for grabs for the winners.
“The fact that we get to play and love what we do and someone takes that and puts that…in their own sense, then they get their whole audience pumped up for their team to play…it’s double cool,” Hetfield told Kimmel.
They guys will also be doing something a little different for their upcoming tour, in which they’ll play “two nights in every city, two completely different shows, no repeats” which, according to Ulrich, “helps us avoid falling into autopilot.”
The metal legends also discussed their popularity with younger fans, thanks in part to the use of their song “Master of Puppets” — which they’ll perform in its entirety on Wednesday — in an episode of Netflix’s Stranger Things, and their own kids following in their footsteps.
“Maybe one day we’ll…hand the keys to [Metallica] to them.”
The Kimmel residency continues through Thursday, leading up to Friday’s release of 72 Seasons.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.
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