METALLICA IS DEEPLY CONNECTED TO THE WEST MIDLANDS AND IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF BLACK SABBATH

As arguably the biggest touring heavy metal band on the planet, Metallica are second to no one when it comes to playing at the world's biggest performance venues.

But on Saturday, July 5, the hard rock heroes will be a supporting act as Black Sabbath perform for the final time on home turf, at Villa Park Stadium.

Metallica will perform at the Back To The Beginning gig and, while (at the time of writing, at least) we don't yet know what part they'll play in the supershow, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Robert Trujillo and Kirk Hammett have covered Black Sabbath songs over the course of the last four decades.

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Read more: Black Sabbath at Villa Park - line-up, times, set list, tickets and how to get there

But the band's connection to our region runs even deeper than just being influenced by the sound created by Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi.

In fact, Metallica likely wouldn't exist in its current form if it wasn't for the little Black Country town of Stourbridge.

That's where Diamond Head are from, the heavy metal band forged in the fires of a neighbourhood famous for its glassworks.

When he was a young drummer, Lars Ulrich flew from his native Los Angeles to London to see his favourite band perform.

Diamond Head were founded back in 1976 and boasted a heavier sound than Black Sabbath were pumping out over the border in Birmingham.

Guitarist Brian Tatler recalls in his biography how Diamond Head were booked into the Odeon Woolwich instead of Hammersmith, harder to get to for fans and reducing their audience right down.

But Lars, then just 17, showed up to support his favourites, striking up a friendship with Brian who appreciated his backing.

The meeting led to Diamond Head bringing Lars back to the Midlands with them, to see some home turf gigs.

Lars went on to spend a month in the Black Country, sleeping over at singer Sean Harris' house and, it could be said, planting the seed for what would go on to be Metallica.

We don't have any insight into how hard Black Sabbath had to work to convince Metallica to join them for their last ever gig, but given the importance of the final hurrah, we imagine it wasn't very hard at all.

And for one founding member, a return to our region is a homecoming in its own special way, even outside of joining Ozzy and the boys in Aston.

Welcome back again, Lars!

2025-07-05T07:06:03Z