Metallica’s James Hetfield agrees ‘rock is dead’ but says heavy metal will never die

Legendary heavy metal singer James Hetfield appeared on The Project on Tuesday night and said that metal music will never die.

The 59-year-old Metallica singer agreed with host Waleed Aly, who said he could understand the general argument that “rock is dead,” but said heavy metal will live on.

Hetfield maintained that the genre is an “underground” aesthetic that will always have its place in the music world.

‘It’s a maverick music. It’s still an underground feeling. It’s like rebellious music. It’s something you have to fight for,” he said.

“You know every decade, ‘Rock is dead.’ That is definitely fuel for a hard rock band.’

It comes just a few weeks after his Guinness World Record band was tipped to play California’s Power Trip heavy rock music festival in October.

Metallica shares the bill with headliner Australian rock band AC/DC, as well as fellow veteran rockers Guns N’ Roses and Ozzy Osbourne.

The American heavy metal band, formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by drummer Lars Ulrich and James, released their eleventh studio album 72 seasons earlier this month.

It followed the release of the single Lux Æterna on November 28 last year when they announced the new album.

On January 19, Metallica then released another single titled Screaming Suicide.

Prior to the album’s release, they shared another single on March 1, titled If Darkness Had a Son.

Finally, on March 30, they released the music video for the album’s title track 72 Seasons.