The Biggest Scandals To Ever Hit Metallica

Founded in October 1981, Metallica defied the odds. At the time of their formation, glam rock was on the rise as bands like Mötley Crüe and Twisted Sister were lighting up the Sunset Strip. Yet, the Bay Area thrash movement, which featured heavy hitters like Metallica, Slayer, and Exodus, according to Louder, provided an alternative for music fans who wanted something harder and faster. Even with the positive word of mouth doing the rounds among the music community, no one could have predicted that Metallica would have climbed out of those sweaty, packed shows to become one of the greatest artists of all time (via Rolling Stone).

With that being said, their career hasn't been smooth sailing all the way. For every success, there has been a scandal that has threatened to derail all their hard work. Some of these controversies were self-inflicted, while others were out of their control. From the shocking Napster lawsuit to the unexpected firing of popular bandmates, here are some of the biggest scandals that rocked Metallica and had fans banging their heads (against a wall).

As a music fan, there's nothing quite as disappointing as trying to find tickets for a show and seeing they're all sold out. What's even worse is discovering a scalper pushing for more than double the original price because they know there's a desperate audience. While most people frown upon ticket scalping in general, it's actually an act that can do serious harm to the music industry, as reported by DJ Mag. Naturally, one would think that artists and their management teams would be against it out of sheer principle, right? According to a Billboard report, some of them, including Metallica, were actually getting in on the action.

The scandalous Billboard discovery found that Live Nation assisted artists to sell tickets on scalping sites for larger profit margins. As per Vox, a recorded phone call featured Tony DiCioccio — an associate of Metallica — asking Live Nation's Bob Roux for help in selling 88,000 tickets for Metallica concerts on scalping sites. It wasn't a good look for anyone involved. However, band members claimed they were unaware that any of this was taking place.

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. However, if we're talking about music, it's legal grounds for copyright infringement and a lengthy lawsuit. In the case of Metallica, as per Louder, they received some serious bad press in 2016 because of a lawyer's letter sent to a cover band.

The Canadian band named Sandman received a cease-and-desist letter from Metallica's attorney, demanding they stop using anything related to the name of Metallica in what they were doing as a group. Vocalist Joe Di Taranto posted the letter on Facebook where it received a lot of attention from both fans and the music community. Eventually, the incident came to the ears of the band, with the band giving a statement to Rolling Stone: "Sandman should file the letter in the trash. Keep doing what you're doing. We totally support you." The band also hinted in the statement that the lawyer who'd sent the letter in question had since been fired.

The 1986 passing of Cliff Burton in a tragic bus accident (via Ultimate Classic Rock) devastated the band. While Burton has never been forgotten by his bandmates, the show needed to go on, and a replacement was sorely needed. As per Metallica's official biography, they auditioned over 40 bassists before settling on Jason Newsted. Newsted's run with the band was equally remarkable, as he formed a part of the fearsome quartet for 15 years before finally departing in 2001.

Newsted left Metallica after feeling frustrated over his lack of creative input and also to recover from neck and back injuries he'd sustained, according to Loudwire. Lars Ulrich admitted in an interview with Apple Music (via NME) that Metallica didn't handle his exit well. "Jason is the only member of Metallica who has ever left willingly," he said. "And that in itself is a statistic. And the resentment from James and I was just so ... You can't do that. You can only leave if we want you to leave. And then we weren't equipped at the time to do a deep dive into why he was leaving."

While there was animosity between the parties, it was all resolved by the time Metallica, including Newsted, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "I talked to Lars, and it's all good," Newsted told Rolling Stone about receiving the call about the induction. "I was happy to hear from him."

There are numerous songs that music fans might consider the worst ever. Some might even go as far as saying it's pure torture to listen to them. It turns out that's exactly what the military did when it wanted to break down prisoners, per The Guardian, as it pumped up the volume and let the music do its worst. Now, while some of us might have expected an annoying song like the Vengaboys' "We Like to Party!" to be blaring on repeat over the speakers, it was actually Metallica's "Enter Sandman" being blasted at Guantánamo Bay and a detention camp at the border of Iraq and Syria.

"We've been punishing our parents, our wives, our loved ones with this music for ever," Hetfield joked when he was told about Metallica being the torture device of choice. "Why should the Iraqis be any different?" However, it does seem like that behind the scenes Metallica wasn't too ecstatic with all the publicity it brought them, since the band requested for the military to stop using their music, as revealed by Navy SEAL Robert O'Neill to Esquire.

While Kylie Jenner is known for being a socialite and the space she takes up in the gossip columns, she's also a businesswoman at heart. However, there was one venture that she undertook with her sister Kendall Jenner that didn't turn out quite as anticipated. In 2017 the Jenner sisters released a range of T-shirts that featured their faces over images and album covers of famous musicians, but they quickly pulled the line after significant backlash from the music community (via The Guardian).

Metallica's "Kill 'Em All" was one of the vintage covers desecrated by the Jenners, as per Racked. James Hetfield wasn't too impressed by this unauthorized collaboration, either, telling ET Canada: "I guess what they were thinking is, we can do whatever we want. To me, it's disrespectful. We've spent 36 years working hard, doing our best to keep a really close connection with people, [making] every note count, and someone just throws something up over something that we feel ... Not that it's sacred or anything, but show some respect." The Jenner sisters posted a public apology on social media for the shirts, stating the "designs were not well thought out."

Fun fact: How do you anger a metalhead? Cut their hair. While it might sound like a cheesy joke, there's a certain truth to it. Just ask Metallica. Despite 1990's "Metallica" sitting as the number one album on the Billboard 200 for four weeks straight and being listed as one of Rolling Stone's greatest albums of all time, a new genre climbed out of the gutters of Seattle and exploded onto the music scene in the early '90s. Grunge music brought with it a new sound and aesthetic. Gone were the long hair and sleeveless band shirts of the past, making way for musicians who had shorter hairstyles and an unhealthy obsession with plaid.

In the lead-up to 1996's "Load," Metallica experienced a grunge-approved makeover. When they reappeared in the public eye, the group looked more like Sugar Ray than Slayer. "We didn't think it was that big of a deal," Kirk Hammett told Deseret News. "And it really surprised us that everyone else made such a fuss. But it's cool, because we like controversy." The band's style continued to evolve over the years, but nothing was ever quite as drastic or controversial as the look from the '90s.