Nothing Else Matters

Lead singer and rhythm guitarist James Hetfield wrote the song (credited to Hetfield/Ulrich){{cite web |title=Metallica - Metallica |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/metallica-mw0000311315 |website=Allmusic.com |access-date=July 16, 2018 |archive-date=March 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305132019/https://www.allmusic.com/album/metallica-mw0000311315 |url-status=live }} in 1990 while on tour, when Hetfield "was bumming out about being away from home."{{cite web |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2012/06/22/james-hetfield-and-kirk-hammett-look-back-on-metallicas-black-album/ |title=James Hetfield And Kirk Hammett Look Back On Metallica's Black Album |last=Steffen |first=Chris |website=The Village Voice |date=June 22, 2012 |access-date=August 26, 2014 |archive-date=January 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101055816/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2012/06/metallica_black_album_interview.php |url-status=dead}} Initially, the song was not meant to be released, as Hetfield had written it for himself, but after drummer Lars Ulrich heard it, it was considered for the album. Hetfield initially had reservations about presenting the song to the band: "I thought that Metallica could only be the four of us. These are songs about destroying things, head banging, bleeding for the crowd, whatever it is, as long as it wasn't about chicks and fast cars, even though that's what we liked. The song was about a girlfriend at the time. It turned out to be a pretty big song."{{cite web |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-behind-the-song-metallicas-nothing-else-matters |title=Metallica's Nothing Else Matters: the story behind the song |last=Hobson |first=Rich |website=Metal Hammer |date=August 15, 2022 |access-date=September 24, 2022 |archive-date=September 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220924234917/https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-behind-the-song-metallicas-nothing-else-matters |url-status=live }} It was one of four demo songs recorded by the band on August 13, 1990.

{{Original research section|date=May 2020}}

Its intro is an E minor arpeggio (transposed one half-step lower on stage performances) beginning with the open low E followed by the open G, B and high E strings.

It is one of the few Metallica songs in which Hetfield plays the guitar solo. Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett does not play on the studio recording, making it one of the few in the whole Metallica repertoire, along with Cliff Burton's "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth", in which he does not appear.{{cite magazine |last1=Epstein |first1=Dan |title=Metallica's Black Album: 10 Things You Didn't Know |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/metallicas-black-album-10-things-you-didnt-know-252307/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=August 13, 2021 |archive-date=August 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813073217/https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/metallicas-black-album-10-things-you-didnt-know-252307/ |url-status=live }} Hammett stated he did not learn how to play the song until they were well into the tour for the album.

The orchestral arrangements were written by award-winning composer Michael Kamen.

The music video premiered on MTV on February 26, 1992.{{citation needed|date=November 2012}} It was directed by Adam Dubin and edited by Sean Fullan. The clip consists of parts of the A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica documentary, which was shot during the recordings of Metallica.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/nothing-else-matters-metallica-billion-views-youtube-9611078/ |title=Metallica Scores First Entry in YouTube's Billion Views Club |magazine=Billboard |last=Mamo |first=Heran |date=August 5, 2021 |access-date=September 24, 2022 |archive-date=September 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220924235731/https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/nothing-else-matters-metallica-billion-views-youtube-9611078/ |url-status=live }} One of them shows Hetfield playing a Gibson EDS-1275 guitar during the second chorus. MTV will not air the video during daytime hours anymore because it features nudity in the form of pin-up posters and Playboy centerfolds that are taped up in the studio. It also has a picture of Winger's Kip Winger which Ulrich is seen throwing darts at. On the band's 2006 music video compilation DVD, the posters are censored, as was done with the nudity featured in the music videos for "Turn the Page" and "Whiskey in the Jar".

In August 2021, the music video hit one billion views on YouTube, making it Metallica's first music video to do so.

The song has become a staple in Metallica's live performances, and has been dedicated to their fans.{{cn|date=February 2023}}

A live version in which this can be heard can be found on the CD/DVD Orgullo, Pasión y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México. Other live recordings can be found on Live Shit: Binge & Purge, on S&M, Cunning Stunts DVD, the DVD/Blu-ray The Big 4 Live from Sofia, Bulgaria as well as on the soundtrack for the band's feature film Through the Never, and also featured on 2019 S&M follow-up live album, S&M2.{{cn|date=February 2023}}

{{Track listing

|headline = U.S. cassette

|title1 = Nothing Else Matters

|length1 = 6:30

|title2 = Enter Sandman

|note2 = Live

|length2 = 5:26

}}

{{Track listing

|headline = International single

|title1 = Nothing Else Matters

|length1 = 6:30

|title2 = Enter Sandman

|note2 = Live

|length2 = 5:26

|title3 = Harvester of Sorrow

|note3 = Live

|length3 = 6:02

|title4 = Nothing Else Matters

|note4 = Demo

|length4 = 5:52

}}

{{Track listing

|headline = Live at Wembley Stadium, London, April 20, 1992

|title1 = Enter Sandman

|length1 = 5:39

|title2 = Sad but True

|length2 = 5:30

|title3 = Nothing Else Matters

|length3 = 6:17

}}

• This version was released in Europe April 27, 1992,[http://www.metallica.com/releases/live-at-wembley-stadium.asp Live at Wembley Stadium release date] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303193826/http://www.metallica.com/releases/live-at-wembley-stadium.asp |date=March 3, 2013 }} and it contained the three songs Metallica played at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert on April 20, 1992, at Wembley Stadium.

{{Track listing

|headline = 1999 CD single

|title1 = Nothing Else Matters

|note1 = Live

|length1 = 6:47

|title2 = For Whom the Bell Tolls

|note2 = Live

|length2 = 4:52

|title3 = - Human

|note3 = Live

|length3 = 4:19

|title4 = Nothing Else Matters

|note4 = Video

}}

• James Hetfield – vocals, lead and rhythm guitars
• Jason Newsted – bass guitar
• Lars Ulrich – drums

Additional personnel

• Michael Kamen – orchestral arrangement
• Bob Rock - production

{{col-start}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|award=Platinum|number=7|relyear=1992|certyear=2024|access-date=March 8, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Austria|award=Gold|type=single|artist=Metallica|title=Nothing Else Matters|access-date=January 2, 2012|relyear=1992|certyear=2000}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Belgium|award=Gold|type=single|artist=Metallica|title=Nothing Else Matters|certyear=2014|relyear=1992}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Brazil|award=Gold|type=single|artist=Metallica|title=Nothing Else Matters|certyear=2024|relyear=1992}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Denmark|award=Platinum|number=2|id=12607|type=single|artist=Metallica|title=Nothing Else Matters|access-date=July 5, 2023|relyear=1992|certyear=2023|certmonth=6}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|award=Gold|number=3|type=single|artist=Metallica|title=Nothing Else Matters|certyear=2023|relyear=1992|access-date=September 25, 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|award=Platinum|number=2|type=single|artist=Metallica|title=Nothing Else Matters|relyear=1992|certyear=2018|access-date=August 16, 2022|id=10017}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|award=Platinum|number=4|type=single|artist=Metallica|title=Nothing Else Matters|relyear=1992|source=radioscope|access-date=2024-12-30|certyear=2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry |region=Spain|type=single|award=Platinum|number=2|certyear=2024|artist=Metallica|title=Nothing Else Matters|accessdate=March 19, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Sweden|award=Gold|type=single|artist=Metallica|title=Nothing Else Matters|certyear=2000|relyear=1992|source=artist|access-date=June 12, 2020}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|award=Platinum|type=single|artist=Metallica|title=Nothing Else Matters|access-date=May 21, 2021|relyear=1992|certyear=2021|id=13197-2158-1}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|award=Gold|type=single|artist=Metallica|title=Nothing Else Matters|access-date=November 13, 2019|relyear=1992|certyear=2012}}

{{Certification Table Separator|title=Streaming}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=single|region=Greece|award=Platinum|certyear=2025|certweek=22|id=20250604093713|access-date=June 4, 2025}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|streamsonly=true}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Nothing Else Matters '99 (live)

| cover = Metallica - Nothing Else Matters (live) cover.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Metallica

| album = S&M

| B-side = *"For Whom the Bell Tolls" (S&M version)

• "- Human"

| released = {{Start date|1999|11|22}}

| recorded = April 21–22, 1999

| venue = Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, California

| genre =

| length = {{Duration|6:47}}

| label = Elektra

| writer = *James Hetfield

• Lars Ulrich

| producer = *Bob Rock

• James Hetfield
• Lars Ulrich
• Michael Kamen

| prev_title = Die, Die My Darling

| prev_year = 1999

| next_title = No Leaf Clover

| next_year = 2000

| misc = {{Extra chronology

| artist = San Francisco Symphony

| type = single

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| title = Nothing Else Matters '99

| year = 1999

| next_title = No Leaf Clover

| next_year = 2000

}}

}}

For its appearance on S&M, its orchestration was arranged by Michael Kamen conducting the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. This live version is featured on the album S&M. It was also released as the single "Nothing Else Matters '99", which included the b-sides "-Human", and the S&M version of "For Whom the Bell Tolls", on November 22, 1999.[http://www.metallica.com/releases/nothing-else-matters-s-and-m.asp Nothing Else Matters '99 release date] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115080951/http://www.metallica.com/releases/nothing-else-matters-s-and-m.asp |date=January 15, 2013 }} This version was also played with guitars tuned to E♭.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

There is also an acoustic remix of "Nothing Else Matters" that is called "Elevator Version", with no electric guitars (replaced by acoustic guitars, even for the solo), Kamen's orchestrations, and Hetfield's voice only; it appears as the B-side to "Sad but True".

An instrumental version of "Nothing Else Matters" appears on the soundtrack of the 2021 film Jungle Cruise. The band collaborated with the film's composer James Newton Howard to record a new orchestral arrangement of the song for the film.{{cite magazine |title=Hear Metallica's Disney-fied 'Nothing Else Matters' Redux for 'Jungle Cruise' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/hear-metallicas-disney-fied-nothing-else-matters-redux-for-jungle-cruise-1205231/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=August 1, 2021 |archive-date=July 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731173755/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/hear-metallicas-disney-fied-nothing-else-matters-redux-for-jungle-cruise-1205231/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=https://collider.com/metallica-jungle-cruise-movie-score-lars-ulrich/|title=Exclusive: Metallica's Lars Ulrich Talks Working on 'Jungle Cruise' Score for Disney|work=Collider|date=September 3, 2020|access-date=August 1, 2021|archive-date=September 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904095001/https://collider.com/metallica-jungle-cruise-movie-score-lars-ulrich/|url-status=live}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Nothing Else Matters

| cover =

| alt =

| caption = CD1

| type = single

| artist = Lucie Silvas

| album = Breathe In

| B-side = "Better Love Next Time" (demo)

| released = {{Start date|2005|10|31}}

| recorded =

| studio =

| genre = Pop

| length = {{Duration|4:36}}

| label = Mercury

| composer = *James Hetfield

• Lars Ulrich

| lyricist = James Hetfield

| producer = Mike Peden

| prev_title = Forget Me Not

| prev_year = 2005

| next_title = Everytime I Think of You

| next_year = 2006

}}

"Nothing Else Matters" is a special Europe-only single by British singer-songwriter Lucie Silvas. It was released in exactly the same way as "Don't Look Back", with the same B-sides and artwork.

{{track listing

| headline = CD1

| total_length =

| title1 = Nothing Else Matters

| note1 = Edit

| writer1 = James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich

| length1 = 3:07

| title2 = Breathe In

| note2 = Live in Denmark

| writer2 = Lucie Silvas, Judie Tzuke, Graham Kearns, Mike Peden

| length2 = 3:32

}}

{{track listing

| headline = CD2

| total_length =

| title1 = Nothing Else Matters

| note1 = Edit

| writer1 = Hetfield, Ulrich

| length1 = 3:07

| title2 = Twisting the Chain

| note2 = Acoustic

| writer2 = Silvas, Charlie Russell, Kearns, Peden

| length2 = 3:55

| title3 = Better Love Next Time

| note3 = Demo

| writer3 = Tzuke, Kearns

| length3 = 3:40

| title4 = Nothing Else Matters

| note4 = Video

| writer4 = Hetfield, Ulrich

| length4 =

}}

Gregorian is a German band headed by Frank Peterson that performs Gregorian chant-inspired versions of modern pop and rock songs. In 1999, they recovered their version to be included on their album Masters of Chant.{{cite web |title=r/Music - Gregorian - Nothing Else Matters [Gregorian chant, new age] |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/6mpeec/gregorian_nothing_else_matters_gregorian_chant/ |website=reddit |date=July 11, 2017 |access-date=January 6, 2020 |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318041614/https://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/6mpeec/gregorian_nothing_else_matters_gregorian_chant/ |url-status=live }}

{{Infobox song

| name = Nothing Else Matters

| cover =

| border = yes

| type = promo

| artist = Miley Cyrus featuring Watt, Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Trujillo and Chad Smith

| album = The Metallica Blacklist {{Noitalic|and}} The Lockdown Sessions

| released = June 22, 2021{{Cite web|url=https://open.spotify.com/album/0GxS05LSGHZd8XLravwM6w|title=Nothing Else Matters - Single by Miley Cyrus {{!}} Spotify|last=Cyrus|first=Miley|author-link=Miley Cyrus|date=June 22, 2021|website=open.spotify.com|access-date=July 3, 2021|archive-date=July 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210708091456/https://open.spotify.com/album/0GxS05LSGHZd8XLravwM6w|url-status=live}}

| length = 6:35

| label = Blackened

| writer = {{Flatlist|

• James Hetfield
• Lars Ulrich}}

| producer = Andrew Watt

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|DqoQY9bobow|"Nothing Else Matters"}}|type=song}}

}}

On January 7, 2021, it was announced that Miley Cyrus would be releasing a cover version that would feature Elton John on piano, drummer Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica's bassist Robert Trujillo and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Cyrus also announced in October 2020 that she plans to release a full album of Metallica covers. Cyrus previously covered "Nothing Else Matters" during her 2019 set at Glastonbury.{{cite web| url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/elton-john-chad-smith-and-more-to-appear-on-miley-cyrus-metallica-covers-album-2850739| title=Elton John, Chad Smith and more to appear on Miley Cyrus' Metallica covers album| website=NME| date=January 7, 2021| access-date=January 7, 2021| archive-date=January 10, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110020451/https://www.nme.com/news/music/elton-john-chad-smith-and-more-to-appear-on-miley-cyrus-metallica-covers-album-2850739| url-status=live}} The cover, produced by Andrew Watt, was released on June 22, 2021, as a promotional single from Metallica's tribute album The Metallica Blacklist, released on September 10. The video for this version was uploaded the same day on Cyrus' YouTube channel.{{Cite magazine|last=Carter|first=Josh|date=June 23, 2021|title=Miley Cyrus "Nothing Else Matters" {{!}} 'The Metallica Blacklist' {{!}} AltPress|url=https://www.altpress.com/news/miley-cyrus-nothing-else-matters-metallica-blacklist/|magazine=Alternative Press|access-date=July 3, 2021|archive-date=June 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629225422/https://www.altpress.com/news/miley-cyrus-nothing-else-matters-metallica-blacklist/|url-status=live}} The cover is also featured on John's album The Lockdown Sessions, which released on October 22.

On December 23, 2022, Hardwell released a mashup of "Nothing Else Matters" and his song "F*cking Society", featured on the deluxe edition of his album Rebels Never Die.{{Cite web|url=https://dancingastronaut.com/2022/12/hardwell-strengthens-dancing-astronauts-2022-album-of-the-year-with-deluxe-edition-of-rebels-never-die/|title=Hardwell strengthens Dancing Astronaut's 2022 Album of the Year with deluxe edition of 'Rebels Never Die'|first=Ross|last=Goldenberg|date=December 23, 2022|website=Dancing Astronaut|access-date=December 24, 2022|archive-date=December 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221224040950/https://dancingastronaut.com/2022/12/hardwell-strengthens-dancing-astronauts-2022-album-of-the-year-with-deluxe-edition-of-rebels-never-die/|url-status=live}}

• The Metallica Blacklist features cover versions by a variety of artists, including Cyrus, Phoebe Bridgers, Dave Gahan, Mickey Guyton, Dermot Kennedy, Mon Laferte, Igor Levit, My Morning Jacket, PG Roxette, Darius Rucker, Chris Stapleton and Tresor.{{cite web|url=https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/06/23/the-metallica-blacklist-tracklist/|title=THE METALLICA BLACKLIST ALBUM'S TRACKLIST EXPLORED: MILEY CYRUS, ELTON JOHN, AND MORE TO FEATURE|website=HITC|date=June 23, 2021|access-date=September 11, 2021|author=Kandpal, Disha|archive-date=September 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911022106/https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/06/23/the-metallica-blacklist-tracklist/|url-status=live}}

{{reflist}}

{{Metallica}}

{{Lucie Silvas}}

{{Miley Cyrus songs}}

{{authority control}}

Category:1990s ballads

Category:1991 songs

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Category:1999 singles

Category:Elektra Records singles

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Category:Hard rock ballads

Category:Heavy metal ballads

Category:Live singles

Category:Metallica songs

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Category:Song recordings produced by Bob Rock

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