Metallica frontman “livid” over Grammys microphone mishap
LOS ANGELES -- Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich says lead singer James Hetfield was “livid” over the technical mishap that left him without a working microphone for the band’s Grammy duet with Lady Gaga.
Hetfield’s verses weren’t audible for the first half of the Sunday performance of “Moth Into Flame.” He eventually moved over to share Gaga’s microphone for the remainder of the song.
Ulrich told Grammy host James Corden on Corden’s “The Late Late Show” on Wednesday that Hetfield was furious about the snafu. He said Hetfield is normally a “chill guy,” but it “was not a lot of fun” in the dressing room after the set.
“We get off stage, we get back there, and I haven’t seen him like that in 20 years. He was livid,” Ulrich said. “He’s a pretty chill guy, but the first five or 10 minutes in that dressing room was not a lot of fun.”
Ulrich said the band “fought through it” and some people told him afterward that even with the mistake, the performance was “great television.”