Last September, Metallica were forced to postpone the Australian leg of their WorldWired tour after vocalist James Hetfield re-entered addiction rehabilitation.
“As most of you probably know, our brother James has been struggling with addiction on and off for many years. He has now, unfortunately, had to re-enter a treatment program to work on his recovery again,” the band shared in a statement at the time.
In a recent interview with Metallica’s So What! fan-club magazine, Ulrich offered an update on Hetfield’s rehabilitation progress, and what the future holds in store for the metal titans.
“I was told that James had some issues, and that he had to go and deal with that, and nobody at that time really knows what that means, Ulrich recalled of the beginning of Hetfield’s recovery process. “You know, what does it mean for him, what does it mean for us, what does it mean for scheduling, all that shit. You just kind of sit there, and obviously your first thoughts are is he okay? What’s going on?”
He continued, “We spoke a couple times. We were texting. Started getting some more clarity, I mean, we’re coming up on 40 years here. You surrender to the elements.
“It’s part of the ride and obviously none of us are officially married to each other, but you know, in marriage vows you say ‘in the good times and the bad times, in health and in sickness, in ups and then downs,’ and if there’s anything that’s clear almost 40 years later, it is that we’re in this for the long haul. We love each other, we believe in each other. We have each other’s backs. We will fight for each other. And we sort of roll with it.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Ulrich offered a hopeful update on Hetfield’s health, and the state of the band — revealing that they’re collectively on a clear path.
Love Metal?
Get the latest Metal news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
“James is in a very healthy place, the band is in a very healthy place, and obviously COVID has played a major role in all of it,” Ulrich continued. “It’s been a mindfuck of a year; I’m sitting here on October 16th, I feel confident and excited about the state of the Metallica nation, and I feel very optimistic about what’s ahead.
“I think we continuously get a little more clarity on the path forward in terms of the balances needed to keep everything rolling, to keep the band functioning, to keep the band members happy, to keep the lights on — all those different things.
“I think we’re better at it now than we were ten years ago, ten years ago we were better at it than we were ten years before. So it’s all just part of the path forward.”
Check out ‘One’ by Metallica:
During a recent interview with CNBC Evolve Summit, Ulrich confirmed that the band were chipping away at a new album, but coronavirus was proving to be a hurdle in the recording process.
“I would say theoretically, we always have another album coming out,” he shared. “Being a rock and roll band and working virtually is not super easy. Time delays, all these things make it really hard. The main thing we miss is being able to hear each other… we can’t all hear each other in a universal fashion.”
