Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich appeared on Tuesday's Late Late Show, to talked about the band's upcoming World Wired Tour 2017, cleaning up their act and that infamous Grammy Awards microphone gaff.
After presenter Laverne Cox forgot to mention the band during the introducing for their duet with Lady Gaga on "Moth into Flame," singer/guitarist James Hetfield's microphone didn't work. Following a couple of inaudible verses, he ended up sharing Gaga's mic. Host James Corden complimented Ulrich for handling the situation "brilliantly," but Hetfield vented his anger backstage after the performance.
"We get off stage, we get back there and I haven't seen him like that in 20 years," recalls Ulrich. "I mean he was livid...He's a pretty chill guy, but the first five or 10 minutes in that dressing room was not a lot of fun."
Lars also described the process of recording their latest album, Hardwired...to Self Destruct, which was a lot trickier now that the band members have families. "You get up, you get the kids ready, you drop them at two or three different schools...after school activities and play dates and all that and one kid's here and one kid's there, but we managed to put about six or seven hours into the studio in between that and [the album] was given birth to."
Life on the road also is a lot tamer for Metallica these days. "We carry our own chef that feeds us very organic and healthy stuff. We have not one, but two...guys that like, massage us and stretch us, warm us up, stitch us back together after the show," notes Lars.
"So basically, being in Metallica is like being on a spa date," joked Corden.
Metallica's 25-city World Wired Tour 2017 launches in Baltimore on May 10 and winds up August 16 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
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