Elton John and Bernie Taupin were the guests of honor Wednesday night (March 20) at DAR Constitution Hall in D.C., where the Library of Congress awarded the songwriting duo with the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. And to help celebrate the pair, Metallica showed out to perform one of their most beloved songs — “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.”
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Taking the stage in front of a vast audience — which included the Rocket Man himself sitting front row center — the heavy metal band added their own characteristic edge to John and Taupin’s bitter Goodbye Yellow Brick Road showstopper. “Oh, it kills me to think of you with another man/ I was playing rock and roll and you were just a fan,” sang frontman James Hetfield.
“But my guitar couldn’t hold you, so I split the band,” he continued as Kirk Hammett, Rob Trujillo and Lars Ulrich rocked out on the guitar, bass and drums, respectively. “Love lies bleeding in my hands.”
Joni Mitchell, Charlie Puth, Maren Morris, Annie Lennox and Brandi Carlile also delivered covers of classic John-Taupin tracks Thursday, with Sir Elton closing out the lineup with piano renditions of “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters,” “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” and “Your Song.” At one point, he and the night’s other performers all posed for a photo together onstage.
Fans will be able to see the full concert at 8 p.m. ET Monday, April 8, when the showcase airs on PBS stations.
Leading up to the show, Hetfield spoke to Billboard about his favorite of the duo’s creations: “That would be ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.’” “It’s beautiful, it’s epic — and I love the lyrics as well,” he added on the red carpet. “The castle, the wonderful dust … and what does it mean after that.”
Watch a snippet of Metallica’s cover of “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleding” below.
