So Sick Edits

See Metallica’s Virtual National Anthem Before San Francisco Giants Game

Although Major League Baseball went crowd-free for its 2020 season due to coronavirus, the San Francisco Giants kept their Metallica Day tradition alive by having the band’s James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett virtually perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” ahead of Wednesday’s game.

Since 2013, members of Metallica have frequented San Francisco’s AT&T Park for the annual celebration of the heavy metal legends and their Bay Area roots, with each Metallica Day featuring the band’s rendition of the national anthem; with Covid-19 preventing fans from attending games throughout baseball, Hetfield and Hammett delivered this year’s anthem from their Metallica HQ studio.

“To be able to support the hometown team in the best possible way, it’s a huge honor,” Hammett said in an interview prior to the game. “The thing about the anthem is that musically, it’s not difficult to play, but when you execute it, you have to execute it perfectly, you can’t mess up any notes, because everyone knows that tune.”


To mark what would have been the Giants’ eighth annual Metallica Day, bassist Robert Trujillo also delivered the game’s ceremonial first pitch from a distant parking lot.