After battling technical difficulties, a stagehand had now reportedly been blamed for Metallica‘s microphone failure at the Grammys 2017.
The metal icons were performing a special duet with Lady Gaga at the US awards ceremony, but as frontman James Hetfield stepped up to sing ‘Moth Into Flame’, his microphone was switched off – forcing him to share one with Gaga. Visibly frustrated, Hetfield threw his guitar and a crewmember and kicked over the mic stand.
Now, TMZ reports that sources claim that the mic and line check before the performance went without a hitch, but shortly after a wire was unplugged beneath the stage by a stagehand – and was only plugged in again seconds before the song’s end.
LISTEN: Lady Gaga's mic feed for her #GRAMMYs performance with Metallica.
This just shows that she can do it ALL! ?https://t.co/TX4IjZQlj9— Warrior | Gaga (@SurvivorHealer) February 14, 2017
It was an evening marred by poor fortune for the band – as host and ‘Orange Is The New Black’ star Laverne Cox also forgot to introduce the band before their performance. She later took to Twitter to apologise:
I am so sorry to #Metallica and all their fans. I am told I didn't say their names during the intro. Love you Metallica. You Rock. #Grammys
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) February 13, 2017
Not only that, but Metallica’s classic ‘Master Of Puppets’ was played by the house band as Megadeth picked up their award – much to fans’ amusement and dismay.
Frontman Dave Mustaine was the original lead guitarist and co-founder of Metallica, before he was fired from the band in 1983 for problems with drugs, alcohol and clashing with the rest of the band. He went on to form Megadeth and much has written about their ‘feud’ ever since.