Image: Metallica [Official Press Photo]
With the conclusion of Super Bowl 2025, football fans are already looking ahead to next year’s big game. But music fans are also buzzing with speculation. The 2026 Super Bowl is set to take place in Santa Clara, California - right in Metallica’s backyard. Their HQ isn’t too far from Levi’s Stadium, the venue for next year’s championship game. So, does that mean we can expect a Metallica performance at the next Super Bowl?
James Hetfield on Metallica and the Super Bowl
This question has come up before, and despite years of anticipation, Metallica have yet to take the Super Bowl stage. And if we go by past interviews, it still seems unlikely. James Hetfield has openly expressed why Metallica might not be the right fit for the Super Bowl, despite the event regularly featuring some of the biggest stars in music.
Speaking with Nikki Sixx in 2016, Hetfield explained:
"I can't dance, I can't jump around, I'm not an acrobat, I'm not a variety show, you know? We are artists. We're a band. We love playing songs. We're not gonna fly through the air on a sparkly star with a unicorn."
"It's become less about music unfortunately and more about just the spectacle. When we played for the fiftieth anniversary of the NFL… right here in our hometown and they didn't have us do it… that would have been the time. Maybe that time has passed?"
Hetfield shared a similar sentiment in another 2016 interview with The Associated Press:
"The fan base is really wide, but as far as playing the halftime show for the Super Bowl, I have a feeling that day… that ship has passed. We're not a variety show, you know? We're not pop. We're not sparkly and all that kind of stuff that I think seems to be what is needed for that."
Those are honest words, but the Metallica fanbase - and the entire metal community - would undoubtedly love to see the California legends perform at the Super Bowl. Whether or not that ever happens remains to be seen.
This year, rapper Kendrick Lamar took the stage for the halftime show. In the past, legendary acts such as The Rolling Stones, Prince, and Michael Jackson have performed, just as pop icons like Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez.
