Roger Waters launched an attack on Metallica singer James Hetfield, calling him a «nobody» and questioning both his intelligence and his musical abilities, during an appearance on «The Katie Halper Show».
“`The former Pink Floyd bassist and singer was asked to comment on Hetfield’s recent remarks about political messages at concerts. After the history of Metallica themselves in songs with political content was discussed, Waters went into a series of personal descriptions.
«It just shows that he is a complete idiot», he said. «He has an IQ of about three, and I don’t even know why we are talking about him, because he is a nobody. He may have a few hundred million dollars or whatever he has, but he is a fool.»
Waters also commented on the musical side, saying he did not like the band’s acoustic performances: «I heard them play acoustic instruments and they were terrible.»
The remarks came after a discussion with host Katie Halper, who brought into the conversation Metallica songs about war, power and injustice, such as «Disposable Heroes» from 1986’s «Master Of Puppets» and «…And Justice For All» from the 1988 record. The show also played a clip from a 2007 Hetfield interview, when the band took part in Live Earth, where he had said that «politics drives me crazy».
The discussion took place against the background of the recent tension around Hetfield’s comments at the «Life Burns Faster» residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Speaking to the crowd on 10 October, the singer made clear he does not want the band’s concerts to become a platform for political persuasion, and stressed that Metallica’s agenda is «love, energy and heavy music».
Hetfield did not name any artist in his remarks. His statements nonetheless came inside a wider discussion about whether musicians should express political positions from the stage, also prompted by the removal of rapper Macklemore from Ed Sheeran’s tour after a speech about the Palestinians of Gaza.
See also
Emmure and Metallica: Palmeri on politics in music · Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon.
