Before Metallica played “Sad But True” in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on May 12, 2022, James Hetfield paused to tell the audience something personal. The musician standing in front of a stadium crowd had arrived with doubts about age and the ability to keep performing.
James Hetfield was 58. After decades of recordings and concerts, the familiar role of Metallica’s frontman still came with moments of uncertainty. On this particular night, James Hetfield chose to explain what had happened before stepping onto the stage—and how three bandmates had helped.
The Worry Before the Show
Speaking to the crowd at Estádio do Mineirão, James Hetfield described feeling insecure before the performance. The thought running through James Hetfield’s mind was blunt:
“I’m an old guy, I can’t play anymore.”
James Hetfield presented those words as the discouraging things a person can tell themselves. The admission was about fear, rather than an announcement that the concert could not continue.
Instead of keeping those feelings private, James Hetfield had spoken to the other members of Metallica. Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo offered reassurance. James Hetfield told the audience that the support included a hug and the promise of help if difficulties arose during the performance.
For anyone who has questioned whether they can still do something that once felt familiar, the situation was recognizable. Experience does not prevent every doubt. Sometimes another person’s confidence helps make the next step possible.
Three Bandmates Walked Over
As James Hetfield explained how much that encouragement meant, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo approached again. This time, the embrace happened onstage, in front of the audience.
James Hetfield became visibly emotional as the four musicians gathered together. The gesture gave the crowd a direct view of the support James Hetfield had just described.
A concert audience usually sees a band carrying out a shared task: keeping time, trading musical cues, and delivering songs people have waited to hear. Here, the cooperation became more personal. For a moment, the instruments and the next number could wait while the musicians stood together.
Turning back toward the crowd, James Hetfield connected that reassurance to the people watching:
“I am not alone, and neither are you.”
A Night Belo Horizonte Had Waited For
The occasion already carried a particular significance. According to Metallica’s official concert archive, this was the band’s first performance in Belo Horizonte.
The show had originally been scheduled for the spring of 2020. Repeated postponements during the pandemic pushed the concert back until May 2022. Fans were finally seeing a performance that had remained on the horizon through a long period of uncertainty.
The official setlist records 16 songs spanning seven albums. “Hardwired” opened the concert, while “Nothing Else Matters” and “Enter Sandman” appeared during the encore. In the middle of that substantial evening of music came a brief exchange that would also become part of the show’s story.
The Song That Followed
After the admission and the embrace, Metallica continued with “Sad But True.” The official setlist places the song seventh, following “One.”
That sequence gives the moment its proper setting. James Hetfield’s words were a personal address between songs. The band then returned to the performance, carrying on with the support James Hetfield had described.
The memory endures because the exchange was easy to understand. A musician admitted feeling uncertain. Friends responded with reassurance, then demonstrated that reassurance in front of everyone.
Fans in Belo Horizonte had waited years to hear Metallica. Alongside the songs, the audience witnessed James Hetfield ask for support, acknowledge receiving it, and share that experience with a stadium full of people.