New Metallica track Murder One is a tribute to Lemmy

A picture of Lemmy on stage with his Murder One amp
Lemmy on stage with his Murder One amp (Image credit: Getty)

Metallica frontman James Hetfield has revealed that one of the tracks on the band’s new album is about late Motorhead frontman Lemmy.

Murder One appears on Metallica’s 10th album Hardwired… To Self-Destruct, which is released on November 18 via the band’s own Blackened Recordings label. You can now watch Metallica’s Murder One video after the band made every video from Hardwired… To Self-Destruct available ahead of the album’s release.

The title is a tribute to Lemmy’s favourite Marshall Super Bass Head from 1976, affectionately named Murder One. The Metallica song features lyrics made up of Motorhead song titles.

In a question-and-answer session with fans on Sirius XM, Hetfield says: “Motorhead had a lot to do with Metallica sitting here right now. But just Lemmy, as kind of a father-figure, he helped us a lot.

“He was unafraid. He was a character. He was himself. He did his own thing to the last breath. No matter who you are, how could you not be inspired by that?”

Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister died last year at the age of 70 after a short battle with cancer.

Meanwhile, footage of Metallica’s performances of Master Of Puppets and Sad But True on Howard Stern’s radio show this week has been released and can be viewed.

Metallica launched a video for their track Moth Into Flame yesterday. They tour South America next month and they’ve confirmed two appearances in Denmark in February.

Metallica Hardwired… To Self-Destruct tracklist

Disc 1

  1. Hardwired
  2. Atlas, Rise!
  3. Now That We’re Dead
  4. Moth Into Flame
  5. Am I Savage?
  6. Halo On Fire

Disc 2

  1. Confusion
  2. Dream No More
  3. ManUNkind
  4. Here Comes Revenge
  5. Murder One
  6. Spit Out The Bone

Metallica 2016 live dates

Sep 27: New York Webster Hall, NY
Oct 22: Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre, CA
Oct 23: Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre, CA
Oct 26: San Juan Coliseo De Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico
Oct 29: Quito Parque Bicentenario, Ecuador
Nov 01: Bogota Hipodromo De Los Andes, Columbia
Nov 03: Guatemala City Estadio Cementos Progreso, Guatemala
Nov 05: San Jose Estadio Nacional, Costa Rica

Lemmy saved the day when Clutch man lost his bass guitar

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.