Will Metallica Ever Be a Legacy Band? James Hetfield Doesn’t Think So

The concept of a “legacy band” is pretty simple: bands with an impressive discography that have a massive following and have been around for decades fall within that category. Think Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Slayer, Pantera… basically any major band that usually sits at the top of a festival’s bill.

You’d think Metallica would fall under that category, but frontman James Hetfield doesn’t think the band’s reached that state. In fact, he swears the band will never become a legacy band. During a recent appearance on the band’s Metallica Report podcast, he suggested that the fact the band keeps adding new music to their setlists and don’t rely entirely on their backlog of tracks is what keeps them from becoming a legacy act.

“The fact that the 72 Seasons album is well received and some of the songs that we’re playing live work and they kind of fit seamlessly in with all the catalog, all the albums we have. We’re not afraid of [playing new songs], but we’re not overindulging in it as well. We know people want to hear the best of, and you’ve got to challenge them to listen to some of the new stuff as well.

“We certainly don’t want to be a legacy band that just plays its greatest hits and then that’s it. [Playing new material is] all a part of it.”

Now, leading up to my writing of this article, I searched the meaning of “legacy band” and nearly every hit suggested that the inclusion of new material doesn’t keep an act from falling under that category. So I think James is a little wrong about this, if we’re going by those definitions.

There’s a whole lot more to the conversation in the podcast episode, so if you’re so inclined, be sure to check it out.