Roger Waters has never been the one to hold back his opinions, and his latest target is Metallica frontman James Hetfield.
The former Pink Floyd bassist recently took a brutal swipe at the singer after Hetfield said the band had no interest in using its concerts to push political messages.
James Hetfield Says Metallica Is All About the Music
The drama started during Metallica’s recent Las Vegas Sphere performances, where Hetfield addressed the crowd with a clear message about the band’s priorities. “Metallica is not here, like some other entertainers, to influence you with their bullshit, okay? ” he said, adding that the band’s agenda was “love, energy and heavy music.”
While some fans have appreciated the sentiment, others have questioned the statement, especially given Metallica’s history of tackling political and social issues through songs like “One,” “Blackened” and “Disposable Heroes.”
Waters was far less polite about the whole thing. Speaking on Katie Halper’s podcast, he responded to clips of Hetfield’s past comments, including jokes about Metallica’s music being used to torture people. Waters called the singer “a complete prick” and questioned his intelligence, wealth and musical abilities.
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“[He’s] no musician. I heard them. I heard them playing acoustic instruments, and they couldn’t. It was appalling,” Waters added, recalling a performance where he heard Metallica playing acoustic instruments. He insisted that the band’s popularity was not something he particularly cared about.
Roger Waters Says Kindness Matters More Than Loud Music
But Waters eventually brought the conversation back to a more personal point – kindness. He referenced The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, the bestselling book by Charlie Mackesy, highlighting a moment where a character says that being kind is what matters most.
For Waters, the exchange was a reminder that empathy should come before ego. “Well, it’s a shame this prick didn’t have somebody around him to explain being kind is way more important than all that loud music and bouncing around. Being kind, have some empathy for your fellow human beings,” he noted.
neurotic but nice 🙂
