With “Enter Sandman”, Metallica surpassed the one billion stream mark on Spotify with one of their songs for the first time since the band was founded in 1981. This is an exceptional phenomenon, especially in the rock world, where the number of songs that have reached this value is relatively small.
A few months ago, the group released “Lux Æterna”, the first single from their album “72 Seasons”, which will be released in April and with which they will also go on tour.
“Enter Sandman” as the cheesiest of all Metallica songs?
The track was released in 1991 on “Metallica”, which is also called the “Black Album” due to its black artwork. The song peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart and made it to number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Looking back, Jason Newsted, who was Metallica’s bassist from 1986 to 2001, explained, that he found the song “kinda cheesy”. Still, he admitted his impact on the band and the music world was undeniable: “Our softest song ever broke down the biggest walls to allow our heaviest tunes to spill out into the world. He was number 1 in 35 countries in one week, seven of which we hadn’t even been to? Dude, that doesn’t happen to a band that’s just ‘Die!’ most of the time. Die!’ sings.”
The music video for the “Kitsch-Werk” is available here:
Billion upon billion: These pieces also made it
Metallica now joins the club of one billion Spotify streams with the following rock and metal acts: AC/DC (“Highway to Hell”, “Back in Black”, “Thunderstruck”), Arctic Monkeys ( “Do I Wanna Know?”), Bon Jovi (“Livin’ on a Prayer”), Fleetwood Mac (“Dreams”), Journey (“Don’t Stop Believin'”), Linkin Park (“In the End” and “Numb”), Lynyrd Skynyrd (“Sweet Home Alabama”), Maneskin (“Beggin'”), Nirvana (“Smells Like Teen Spirit”), Oasis (“Wonderwall”), Panic! at the Disco (“High Hopes”), Queen (“Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Don’t Stop Me Now”, “Another One Bites the Dust” and “Under Pressure”), Radiohead (“Creep”), Red Hot Chili Peppers (“Under the Bridge” and “Californication”), The Killers (“Mr. Brightside”), The Police (“Every Breath You Take”), The White Stripes (“Seven Nation Army”) and Twenty One Pilots (” Stressed Out”, “Ride” and “Heathens”).
Metallica live this year
In May the musicians give four concerts in Germany. 2-day tickets are still available for the two performances in Munich. Here is an overview of the tour dates for Germany:
- 05/24/2024 Munich Olympic Stadium*
05/26/2024 Munich Olympic Stadium** - 05/26/2023 Hamburg Volksparkstadion* (sold out)
05/28/2023 Hamburg Volksparkstadion** (sold out)
*Support Show 1: Architects and Mammut WVH
**Support Show 2: Five Finger Death Punch & Ice Nine Kills
The “Black Album” including “Enter Sandman” can be heard here: