Metallica's James Hetfield has apologised to Kip Winger for 'Nothing Else Matters' video
For the dartboard scene
Last updated 4th Jul 2023
Metallica frontman James Hetfield has personally apologised to Kip Winger for the ‘Nothing Else Matters’ music video more than three decades ago.
Directed by Adam Dubin, the ‘Nothing Else Matters’ video from 1992 focuses on Metallica performing the power ballad alongside clips of Papa Het, Lars Ulrich, Jason Newsted and Kirk Hammett larking about in the studio.
In one shot, a laughing Lars Ulrich is seen pulling darts from a magazine cutting of Winger frontman Kip Winger which was attached to a dartboard.
Speaking to Classic Rock about the ‘Nothing Else Matters’ video, Kip Winger said: “James (Hetfield) called me about a year and a half ago and he was very sincere.
“I’m paraphrasing, but he said: ‘We were dumb kids back then and I’m sorry if we hurt your career.’ He’s texted a couple of times since. In another life maybe we could have been good friends.”
Despite James Hetfield’s apology, Winger believes that Lars Ulrich would never reach out to bury the hatchet.
“I don't think Lars would ever call me to apologise,” Winger told the Appetite for Distortion podcast in a separate interview.
"I think everybody was just young kids, and they were thinking it was funny. To me, it's not funny to slag off a fellow musician. But who knows? They were just doing what they were doing. I don't know. I can't answer to that."
However, appearing on Howard Stern’s radio show in 2020, Lars Ulrich did express regret over the scene, saying: "In the 'Nothing Else Matters' video, which was filmed at the studio while we were recording the Black Album, we had a dartboard.
“We'd get Creem magazine, Circus magazine, and we'd take posters of people who look particularly obnoxious and put them up on the board and throw darts at them.
“There's a shot in that video of me throwing darts at Kip Winger. To this day I apologize when it's brought up in interviews; it was nothing against Kip Winger personally."
Metallica wrapped up the first European leg of their M72 World Tour last month with two shows at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. The North American leg kicks off in exactly one month’s time at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Winger recently supported Steel Panther on the UK leg of their On The Prowl World Tour.
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