JAMES HETFIELD and ROBERT TRUJILLO contemplate what they would be doing if METALLICA didn't exist
12-06-2025
In episode 98 of “The Metallica Report”, the podcast offering weekly insider updates on all things METALLICA, METALLICA frontman James Hetfield and bassist Robert Trujillo answered a couple of listener questions, addressing their influences, inspiration and where life might have taken them if they weren’t in METALLICA. Asked by a fan from Denmark what they would be doing if they didn’t play in METALLICA and METALLICA didn’t exist, Trujillo answered: “What would we be doing? Well, what would I be doing? I would — oh, man. It’s a good question. I would probably continue to play music. I love songwriting, so I always write songs, even just for fun. It’s something that I do, so maybe I would get into songwriting, become an independent songwriter, maybe get into production. The other thing that I actually originally started to do — my first job was in construction. So I always thought that maybe I would become a contractor. I think that my skills as an organizer, a coordinator could help. I don’t like kind of lifting heavy things anymore. Back in the day, I could lift a couple sheets of drywall, no problem, up three flights of stairs. I did drywall. I did hardwood floors for a long time. Learning that stuff was great because now if I see a fixer-upper property or a house, I’m not afraid of it. I always see the potential of it because I’ve done that on my own and I’ve experienced that. So I’m not afraid to remodel or rebuild. I’d probably be a contractor — something in the trades. I’d be a tradesman of sorts.”
For his part, Hetfield said: “I’d be trying to form METALLICA still, probably, still looking for a Lars (Ulrich, METALLICA drummer and co-founder) somewhere out there. Or I would really be involved in bands. I’d be roading or working in a studio, hopefully helping make music somehow. Or graphic design. I love graphics. I love doing artwork. I also like doing trades stuff — craftsmanship with wood, with metal, building stuff. Maybe that would’ve turned into something too. But music is a gift I’ve been given, so I’d still be trying to kick some doors down and get into it somehow.”
As previously reported, METALLICA‘s “M72” tour will return to Europe in 2026. Support on the trek, which will run from May to July next year, will come from GOJIRA, KNOCKED LOOSE, PANTERA and AVATAR. The production will feature the same unique stadium production in-the-round at midfield, with the Snake Pit in the center of the stage providing a complete 360-degree view of the show.
METALLICA played the first concert of 2025 on April 19 at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, New York. Support at the show came from PANTERA and SUICIDAL TENDENCIES.
Since opening April 2023 in Amsterdam, “M72” has seen METALLICA play to more than three million fans. Variously hailed as “an altogether life-affirming experience” (Billboard),”impossible to leave unsatisfied” (Austin Chronicle),”a stone-cold stunner of a show” (Detroit News),”the mother of all summer concerts” (Worcester Telegram Gazette) and “as tight and furious as METALLICA has sounded in ages” (Los Angeles Times),“M72” continues to amaze fans and critics alike. The tour concluded its triumphant 2024 run with four nights at Mexico City’s Estadio GNP Seguros, where METALLICA played to more than 250,000 fans over the course of two No Repeat Weekends.
The “M72” world tour’s 2025 itinerary continues the hallowed No Repeat Weekend tradition, with each night of the two-show stands featuring entirely different setlists and support lineups. These include METALLICA‘s much-anticipated Bay Area hometown play, to take place June 20 and 22 with the band’s debut performances at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
Support on “M72”‘s 2025 North American run comes from PANTERA, LIMP BIZKIT, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and ICE NINE KILLS.
METALLICA‘s last album “72 Seasons” sold 146,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marks the band’s 12th Top 10-charting album, of which eight have reached the top two.
“72 Seasons” had the biggest week for any rock or hard rock album since TOOL‘s “Fear Inoculum” arrived in September 2019 with 270,000 equivalent album units.
“72 Seasons” was released on April 14 via METALLICA‘s own Blackened Recordings. Produced by Greg Fidelman with guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, it is METALLICA‘s first full-length collection of new material since “Hardwired…To Self-Destruct”.
In the seven years since the arrival of “Hardwired… To Self-Destruct”, METALLICA has reissued some of its classic albums, released a second live album with the San Francisco Symphony, commissioned a covers album featuring the likes of GHOST, VOLBEAT, WEEZER, Corey Taylor and THE HU, and landed on the Billboard songs chart with “Master Of Puppets” after a prominent placement in the hit Netflix show “Stranger Things”.
METALLICA‘s “M72” world tour launched in late April in Amsterdam. The trek sees the band playing two nights in every city it visits — with each “No Repeat Weekend” featuring two completely different setlists and support lineups. The “M72” tour features a bold new in-the-round stage design that relocates the famed METALLICA Snake Pit to center stage, as well as the “I Disappear” full-tour pass and the debut of discounted tickets for fans under 16 years of age.
Opening acts include Floor Jansen, EPICA, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, ICE NINE KILLS, MAMMOTH WVH, PANTERA, ARCHITECTS, GRETA VAN FLEET and VOLBEAT.
METALLICA promises fans who purchase a two-day ticket that they won’t see the same song twice for a total of over 30 songs spanning the band’s 40-plus-year career.
Social media