Neither Metallica nor Eddie Money fall into the Country music category. But they are both superstars in their genre's and I think this is a beautiful story.
Eddie Money passed away last September. If you weren't familiar with his music he had pop rock hits in the 70's through the 90's. Some of his friends wanted to honor him so they started the Eddie Money Cancer Research Fund.
Then some of his friends who were musicians decided to put on a concert to raise money. They were mostly similar in style to Eddie. Rick Springfield, John Waite, REO Speedwagon, Greg Kihn and Sammy Hagger were some of those promoted.
But then a surprise happened. The lead singer of one of the heaviest metal bands of all time, Metallica showed up. It was a surprise for 2 reasons. Who knew that James Hetfield liked Eddie Money, and James hasn't been seen in public for a while. He has been in rehab.
But the secret Eddie Money fan came out and killed one of Eddie's hits just to show his love. As Spin reports Hetfield’s unannounced acoustic performance of Money’s “Baby Hold On” was his first time on stage since announcing last September that he was entering a rehab facility and Metallica canceling their Australian tour.
Many thought this showed he was good to go. But then James announced today that he has cancelled this Summer's Metalica's festival appearances. James tells Rolling Stone “As part of my continuing effort to get and stay healthy, I have critical recovery events on those weekends that cannot be moved. I apologize to all of our fans who have bought tickets for these festivals. We are working with the festival promoters to provide for refunds or exchanges. My intent with this statement is saying ‘I apologize’ to each one of you.”
He just really wanted to help remember Eddie.