Metallica Singer Forming Grunge Supergroup?

While answering fan questions in the new issue of Metal Hammer, Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell revealed that he is open to collaborating with Metallica frontman James Hetfield on new music.

“James and I have talked about it, kind of. We never had a formal conversation but I’ve jammed with him at [Metallica guitarist] Kirk’s [Hammett] place. I’ve even spent a night or two at his house, and we’ve ended up with guitars in the kitchen and on the porch. It’s something I’d be really curious about, even to just write a song with him. As for whether it’d turn into something more than that, he’s got a pretty demanding day job. Ha ha! So I’d understand if it never comes to be,” he said.

Cantrell has never been shy about his love of Hetfield and Metallica. The guitarist previously gushed about Hetfield in a 2020 interview with Metal Hammer, saying:

“What makes James such a great frontman is his physical presence. Nobody else commands the same kind of respect and attention without it being self-seeking or egocentric. He’s all about the music; all about the fun and the celebration and the connection with the fans. And that, to me, is really inspiring. Especially because he’s done this for so long, and he’s been at the top of his game for so long and he continues to search for a deeper meaning. He took an underground thing and took it worldwide.

“Metallica is a huge thing for me and for any hard rock or metal band. Will he go down in history as a rock icon? He already has — he’s the godfather, man.”

In 2006, Hetfield joined Alice In Chains on stage during their shows at Rock AM Ring festival in Germany and at the Warfield in San Francisco to perform the song “Would?”

When asked by Revolver magazine if he had a close relationship with frontman Layne Staley before his death in 2002, Hetfield replied:

“I wasn’t really close with Layne, but I remember going to see Alice In Chains many times. I remember when we were down in L.A. [in 1991, making ‘The Black Album’], I left the studio early to see them play on ‘Clash Of The Titans’ with Slayer. I was driving like a madman in this rented van, going on the median and scaring the shit out of my friend — ‘We gotta get there!’ And we get there, and they’d just got off. I was like, ‘Aw, man!’ [Laughs] I hung with them a little bit, always just loved their music, and I’d say that Jerry and I share some life experiences, like getting a second chance at life and realizing how cool things can be. So we’ve got kind of a kinship that way.

“And seeing them play — I just love hearing those songs. Those songs are awesome and should be heard, you know? They were so unique, so ahead of their time. And out of all the Seattle stuff, that stuff is the most timeless. Unfortunately, Layne just loved the junk too much, man, and that was that. I just read in his lyrics his obsessiveness about it. And he knew where he was goin’! It’s like, in the school of driving, look where you want to go — and that’s what he was doing, it seems like.”