James Hetfield just paid tribute to his late friend, Cliff Burton.
As the iconic band’s Australian tour continues The sandman enters The hitmakers are currently in Melbourne to perform at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.
Before the anticipated performance, in a sweet gesture to his friend, James headed to Melbourne’s iconic AC/DC Lane, where a mural depicting the band’s founding bassist was being completed.
On Metallica’s official Instagram page, the uploaded image shows James standing proudly next to the mural alongside one of its creators.
The mural featured Cliff against a background of lightning bolts and the artists’ names: Maid (Liquid Pastels) and Ling written in Metallica’s iconic font.
“Visiting an old friend in Melbourne,” James captioned the image, adding: “Fantastic mural.”
Cliff Burton was a founding member of Metallica and played on the band’s first three studio albums. Kill them all, ride the lightning and puppet master.
He tragically died in 1986 in a bus accident in Sweden while the band was on tour and was later replaced by Jason Newsted, who served until 2001 before being replaced by Robert Trujillo in 2003.
Metallica fans flooded the comments sections raving about James Hetfield’s gesture, with many praising the artwork.
One fan commented: “Even after almost 40 years, the members of Metallica still commemorate a lost brother in the most beautiful way.”
“I really respect them because they reminded us how important friendship is,” wrote another.
