Enlarge Somehow, this is the first time Metallica have crossed the ten-digit mark.

Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” Reaches One Billion YouTube Views

  • Axl Rosenberg
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Sad but true: somehow, up until now, no Metallica video had ever gotten to a billion views on YouTube.

The ten-digit mark was previously reached by Slipknot, System of a Down, Linkin Park, and Guns N’ Roses (twice)… but Metallica have only just joined the 1BVYT club (which is what the cool kids call it (I may have made that up)).

Maybe even more surprising is that the clip that finally got them there is “Nothing Else Matters.” I would have assumed it was “Enter Sandman,” which as of this writing has a mere 483M views. Even taking into account that “Nothing Else Matters” was uploaded to the platform in 2009, two years before “Enter Sandman,” the latter song has a lot of catching up to do.

How do we explain that gap? Is it because “Nothing Else Matters” is a ballad, and therefore more palatable to a mass audience (not that “Enter Sandman” is “Hammer Smashed Face” or even “Trapped Under Ice,” but still). Is the “Nothing Else Matters” video, which is comprised of behind-the-scenes footage from the A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica documentary, just easier on the eyes than the strobe-tastic clip for “Sandman”? Is it just because “Nothing Else Matters” was recently covered by Miley Cyrus and reimagined for Disney’s Jungle Cruise movie? (It isn’t, I just needed an excuse to link back to those earlier articles.) Discuss amongst yourselves in the comments section.

In case you’re curious — ’cause I know I was — here are the next five most popular Metallica videos on YouTube after “Nothing Else Matters” and “Enter Sandman.”

“The Unforgiven” – 443M views*

“One” – 222M views

“Whiskey in the Jar” – 109M views

“Sad But True” – 58M views

“Seek & Destroy” (Live) [Quebec Magnetic]/”The Day That Never Comes” (tie) – 54M views

On September 10, Metallica will release a super-duper-extra-special deluxe thirtieth anniversary edition of The Black Album consisting of fourteen CDs, six LPs, six DVDs, “and so much more.” Pre-order it here.

Then, on October 1, they’ll release The Metallica Blacklist, an album that “celebrates the enduring influence of Metallica with an unprecedented 50+ artists spanning an unbelievably vast range of genres, generations, cultures, continents and more, each contributing a unique interpretation of their favorite Black Album cut.” That can be pre-ordered here.

On top of all of that, the band will also release a new book of photos by Ross Halfin, The Black Album in Black and White, on October 19. The book can be pre-ordered here.

Metallica’s current live itinerary is as follows:

9/24/21 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life at Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center [tickets]
9/26/21 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life at Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center [tickets]
10/8/21 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock at Discovery Park [tickets]
10/10/21 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock at Discovery Park [tickets]
11/4/21 – Hollywood, FL — Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino [tickets]
11/12/21 – Daytona Beach, FL – Welcome to Rockville at the Daytona International Speedway [tickets]
11/14/21 – Daytona Beach, FL – Welcome to Rockville at the Daytona International Speedway [tickets]
12/17/21 — San Francisco, CA — Chase Center [fan club only]
12/19/21 — San Francisco, CA — Chase Center [fan club only]
6/15/22 – Copenhell – Copenhagen, Denmark [tickets]
6/17/22 – Firenze Rocks – Florence, Italy [tickets]
6/19/22 – Prague Rocks – Prague, Czech Republic [tickets]
6/22/22 – Rock Werchter – Werchter, Belgium [tickets]
7/1/22 – Mad Cool – Madrid, Spain [tickets]
7/6/22 – NOS Alive – Lisbon, Portugal [tickets]

*This video was uploaded twice for some reason. One version has 378M views and one version has 65M views. I combined them here for obvious reasons..

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