Watch 100,000 people emotionally singing their hearts out to Limp Bizkit's Behind Blue Eyes cover while Fred Durst dons a proud 80s perm

(Image credit: Crowd: Instagram (@rockamringofficial) / Durst: YouTube (Vlad Piskunov))

Few bands in heavy metal seem to provoke as many primal, emotional responses as Limp Bizkit. The nu metal legends have delighted g-g-generations of fans with their arsenal of bouncy, ultra-catchy party anthems, and pandemonium inevitably ensues whenever they play live.

Of course, Jacksonville's finest have also earned a reputation as making certain quarters of the metal world absolutely furious, their schtick deemed too silly for heavy metal lore, their music too polished to even be considered metal at all. Fred Durst became a pop culture boogeyman in the early 2000s, many metalheads unable to forgive him and his crew for what they see as kicking the door down for jocks and bullies to infiltrate the genre they love (something that Durst has always passionately denied).

Few, however, would ever have Limp Bizkit as the first band that comes to mind when it comes to producing full-hearted, emotional, power ballad singalongs from crowds of tens of thousands of people. That may well be about to change, though.

Earlier this month (June 2), Bizkit played Germany's huge Rock Am Ring festival, rattling through an eleven-song set stacked with nu metal bangers including Hot Dog, Rollin', My Generation, Livin' It Up, My Way and many more.

The most memorable (and indeed stirring) moment of the show, however, was when the band rolled out their cover of The Who's Behind Blue Eyes - an earnest and full-hearted take that has drawn much mockery from classic rock aficionados, but that remains one of Bizkit's most enduring and popular tracks - at least according to their streaming numbers.

As Bizkit launched into the cover, a massive Rock Am Ring crowd duly played their part by singing their absolute asses off, leading to one of the most impactful moments of the whole weekend - all made the more surreal by Durst donning a big, curly, 80s perm wig and accompanying shades as he conducted his choir. "You sound fucking beautiful," beams the frontman in eye-popping footage since uploaded to social media. We have to agree! Watch the video below.

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Merlin was promoted to Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has written for Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.