METALLICA Frontman Talks ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME

March 20, 2009

METALLICA will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. Joining the band as inductees are guitar legend JEFF BECK, RUN-DMC, BOBBY WOMACK, and LITTLE ANTHONY & THE IMPERIALS.

METALLICA are first-time nominees, with the nomination coming 25 years after the release of the band's 1983 debut album, "Kill 'Em All". An act must be recording for a quarter century in order to be eligible. The induction ceremony will take place in Cleveland on April 4 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum itself and will be broadcast live on the Fuse cable channel. Previous ceremonies have been held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York.

Frontman James Hetfield tells EW.com, "We're very honored to be recognized. There's a whole genre around us that hopefully we can invite through the door. Hopefully there will be recognition for some of the bands that have changed music and changed people’s lives. That's what I think the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should be about. There are certainly a lot of bands that aren't in there that I can't believe aren't: MOTÖRHEAD, RUSH, JUDAS PRIEST, DEEP PURPLE. But for us to be in there, hopefully we can bring some awareness to heavy stuff."

The band has invited a slew of past collaborators to the ceremony, including former members Dave Mustaine (who declined the invite) and former bassist Jason Newsted. "We wanted to invite everyone who was involved with METALLICA," says Hetfield. "You know, the drama that goes around the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is pretty ridiculous most of the time. We're trying to avoid that. We are a band that's alive and feeling good and still creating, and we want it to be a family reunion. We've invited pretty much everyone from our first drum roadie to the head of the record company now, and all in between. We put the invite out there and anyone is welcome."

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