Metallica's Hetfield Angered By Mic Problems At GRAMMYs
LOS ANGELES (CBS SF) -- It wasn't the first time things haven't gone Metallica's way at the GRAMMYs, but at Sunday's 59th presentation of the awards, the slights against the Bay Area metal band were twofold.
Many fans noticed that "Orange Is New Black" actress Laverne Cox neglected to even mention the band when she introduced the collaborative performance of Metallica and Lady Gaga doing the song "Moth Into Flame" but only mentioned Gaga.
Cox tweeted an apology later Sunday night.
I am so sorry to #Metallica and all their fans. I am told I didn't say their names during the intro. Love you Metallica. You Rock. #Grammys
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) February 13, 2017
But the real problem surfaced when frontman James Hetfield's microphone didn't work through most of the song. While Gaga would share her mic with him during the performance, his vocals were mostly inaudible through half the song when the technical glitch was finally fixed.
There was little question about Hetfield's feelings after the song was finished. As reported by metal news website Metal Injection, the guitarist was seen throwing his instrument angrily towards a tech once the performance was over before he walked offstage.
I don't think James Hetfield enjoyed that #GRAMMYs performance https://t.co/U11FQm84W2 pic.twitter.com/SCpDkWCxWA
— Metal Injection (@metalinjection) February 13, 2017
The band played a 10-song set at the sold-out Hollywood Palladium a few hours later as part of the Citi Sound Vault series. Hard-rock website Loudwire.com reported that at the end of the show, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich remarked "how nice it was that the microphones at the Hollywood Palladium worked, and suggested that they should send them over to the Staples Center, where the GRAMMYs took place."
The above problems weren't the only Metallica-related GRAMMY mishaps Sunday. During a pre-broadcast portion of the awards show, former Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine and his band Megadeth won their first ever GRAMMY for "Best Metal Performance."
But, as Metal Injection reported, the GRAMMYS house band started playing the Metallica song "Master of Puppets" as Mustaine and the rest of the band walked to the stage to accept the award.
Mustaine managed his own dig at the GRAMMYs Monday morning with this tweet:
Ah, you can't blame 'em for not being able to play @Megadeth https://t.co/acEyzSQgyT
— Dave Mustaine (@DaveMustaine) February 13, 2017
Metallica had it's first run-in with the GRAMMYs back in 1989 when the band made it's performing debut on the awards show, delivering a blistering version of "One" from their And Justice For All... album, only to lose the inaugural "Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Performance" award to flute-playing singer Ian Anderson's classic-rock outfit Jethro Tull.
The band has since won nine GRAMMY awards.
Even with the problems, Metallica may have gotten the last laugh. The controversy surrounding their performance guaranteed the band was on the mind of fans across the planet when they announced their WorldWired 2017 Tour Monday morning.
On Monday's Late Late Show with James Corden, Ulrich discusses Hetfield's mic issues during their GRAMMYs performance with Gaga.