Gojira Frontman Says He Owes His Career + Marriage to Metallica

Metallica have had a huge impact on a lot of musicians, but especially on Gojira’s Joe Duplantier, who says he owes his career as a musical artist to them.

The frontman noted that the Ride the Lightning track “Fade to Black” was the first song he learned how to play on the guitar, but that’s not the only close connection he has with Metallica.

When Gojira were on tour with the thrash legends in Europe years and years later, Duplantier met his wife while he was out at a bar with Lars Ulrich in Lithuania.

“I think it’s a beautiful story, I tell my kids all the time… Lars is practically their Godfather,” he told Loudwire Nights. “And he knows, ‘Without you, I wouldn’t have met my wife, I wouldn’t have my kids right now.’ Because he’s the one who told us to meet him at a bar, a specific bar, and turns out it was my wife’s favorite place to go.”

“Metallica brought me so much. The inspiration… I wanted to be them at some point,” he admitted. “I was so in love with their music when I was a teenager. They really inspired me so much, helped me to go through high school [and] eventually made me start what became my life today — my musical journey.”

Thus, Duplantier has a career as a musician and a family because of Metallica. What a story.

To hear more about the band’s upcoming album Fortitude, out April 30, watch the full Zoom interview below. Pre-order the album here now.

Gojira: I Owe My Career + Marriage to Metallica