Welcome to the Billion Views Club, Metallica, we’ve been expecting you. The heavy metal legends have just landed the sixth entry in the exclusive YouTube list, as per Billboard.
Their six-minute-plus visual for their classic hit ‘Nothing Else Matters’ follows ‘November Rain by Guns N’ Roses, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana, ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries, ‘I Will Always Love You’ by Whitney Houston, and ‘What’s Up’ by 4 Non Blondes in being viewed at least one billion times on YouTube. That’s some fine company right there.
Taken from Metallica’s 1991 self-titled album, often referred to as The Black Album, the power ballad only charted at number 11 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart but would go onto become a favourite staple of their live concerts and one of their most recognisable tracks.
The YouTube video for the song that just smashed through the billion barrier was directed by Adam Dubin and features clips from the documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica, which followed the recording process of that seminal 1991 record.
Joining the Billion Views Club comes at a good time for the band as The Black Album celebrates its 30th anniversary next week with a huge reissue, as well as a companion set, The Metallica Blacklist, which will be filled with covers from an eclectic variety of 53 artists, including Miley Cyrus (with her version of ‘Nothing Else Matters’), Elton John, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, frequent collaborator Watt, Metallica’s own bassist Robert Trujillo, and even cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
What do you think will be the next song to reach the billion mark? My money’s on anything by Olivia Rodrigo. And it might be Metallica’s first inclusion but don’t expect them to get a second entry one day soon.
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Add to Metallica’s one billion views by watching the video for ‘Nothing Else Matters’ below:
