Watch: James Hetfield Brought to Tears Over Elton John Praise

Metallica frontman James Hetfield was brought to tears by Elton John, after the latter praised "Nothing Else Matters" as "one of the best songs ever written."

The pair appeared on The Howard Stern Show –– alongside Hetfield's Metallica bandmates and Miley Cyrus –– to discuss John and Cyrus' recent collaboration, which sees them cover "Nothing Else Matters" as part of the Metallica Blacklist collection.

“That idea came from Andrew Watt who produced the track and played guitar on it," John began when talking about changing the song's intro from guitar to piano. "He said, ‘I want you to start the song and finish the song, because I don’t want it to start with the guitar, because that’s how the original record started.”

“Listen, this is one of the best songs ever written, to me," John continued. "It’s a song that never gets old. And playing on this track, I just couldn’t wait. The chord structure, the melodies, the time changes, it’s got drama written all over it.”

At this point, a listening Hetfield is overcome with emotion, as tears well up in the frontman's eyes.

John also had much praise for Metallica in general, labelling them musical icons.

“I have to say, it was a no-brainer playing on this song. Metallica are probably the crème de la crème of those kind of bands. You can’t really define them. They’re not a heavy metal band. They’re a musical band. Their songs aren’t just heavy metal. They’re beautiful songs. This is such a melodic song — it’s f**king great, actually.”

Check out the John/Metallica/Cyrus interview below:

The Howard Stern Show also featured a performance by Metallica alongside Cyrus, with the latter taking on lead vocal duties. Check that out below:

Metallica's Blacklist is released October 1. Elton John and Miley Cyrus' cover of "Nothing Else Matters" is out now.

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