Metallica urged fans to “keep an open mind for a different view” on “Nothing Else Matters,” and in return, they gave the hard rockers 1 billion views on the music video.
The six-minute-plus visual is the sixth entry in YouTube’s Billion Views Club from the ’90s, following Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain,” Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” The Cranberries’ “Zombie,” Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” and 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up.” “Nothing Else Matters” is from the band’s self-titled 1991 album (better known as The Black Album), and the song peaked at No. 11 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.
The Adam Dubin-directed music video contains clips from the A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica two-part documentary, which detailed the recording process of the seminal LP.
The Black Album is celebrating its 30th anniversary next week with a reissue, as well as a companion set titled The Metallica Blacklist, which will be packed with covers by major recording artists. Miley Cyrus is among the 53 musicians included in the covers set, which will include her version of “Nothing Else Matters,” also featuring Elton John, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, frequent collaborator Watt and Metallica’s very own bassist Robert Trujillo.
Clearly nothing else matters besides this video — Metallica’s first entry in the Billion Views Club — so go ahead and hit play on it one more time below.
