Metallica Send Heartfelt Message After Loss of a Friend Audio Ink Radio

Metallica Send Heartfelt Message After Loss of a Friend

2025-01-30

Someone close to the members of metal band Metallica has passed away, and the group is paying tribute to their lost friend. – Author: Charles Ken, Photo via Ross Halfin

The metal music world is about more than just music. It’s a community of friends and colleagues who are all very passionate about their art and each other.

So, seeing how close the metal community is, it goes without saying that when someone passes away in that community, it hurts. Now, someone close to Metallica has passed away, and the band is paying tribute to their lost friend.

Metallica Honor Marianne Faithfull

Marianne Faithfull passed away on Thursday, January 30, at the age of 78. Faithfull is a vocalist and sang on the metal group’s celebrated song, “The Memory Remains,” off 1997’s “ReLoad.”

Metallica took to Instagram upon the news to post a gallery of photos of the different band members with Faithfull. The post also includes a special message from drummer Lars Ulrich, in which he states, “Thank you, Marianne… For the good times, For your kindness, For the great stories, For your fearlessness … And the biggest Thank You and … Yeah for your incredible and unique contribution to our music, and for always being so willing to join us in performing it … and partake in the ensuing shenanigans! Rest in Peace – Lars.”

While singing with Metallica made Faithfull more familiar to the metal world, she was already a famous and celebrated vocalist before she appeared on “The Memory Remains.” Before that collaboration, she worked with everyone from The Rolling Stones to The Beatles. She had also released a collection of solo albums before the Metallica collaboration.

Metallica were big fans of Faithfull’s contribution to their song. Back in 1998, Metallica singer James Hetfield told CMJ New Music Monthly of the singer, “She had that voice that we were looking for, that weathered, smellin’-the-cigarettes-on-the-CD kinda voice. And I thought, ‘…, that’s exactly what we need for this part.'”

Faithfull performed “The Memory Remains” a handful of times, including an appearance on a December 1997 episode of “Saturday Night Live” and a performance during one of their seminal 30th anniversary shows in San Francisco in 2011.

Mick Jagger Honors Marianne, Who Was His Ex-Girlfriend

Faithfull was actually the girlfriend of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger in the 1960s and served as the inspiration for songs such as “Wild Horses” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

Jagger honored Faithfull after hearing the news, stating that she was “a wonderful friend, a beautiful singer and a great actress” and that he was “so saddened” by the loss.

“I am so saddened to hear of the death of Marianne Faithfull,” Jagger stated. “She was so much part of my life for so long. She was a wonderful friend, a beautiful singer and a great actress. She will always be remembered.”

His bandmate, guitarist Keith Richards, shared that he was “so sad” to hear the news of Faithfull’s death and said that he “will miss her.”

“Her story is a remarkable portrait of the rock and roll era,” said music expert Mark Savage of the BBC. “She was a doe-eyed poster girl of the 1960s, plucked from obscurity by the Rolling Stones’ manager at the age of 16 and given ‘As Tears Go By,’ the first song ever written by Jagger and Keith Richards.”

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Charles Ken

Meet the expert - Charles Ken is a graduate of Michigan State University where he studied writing and history. He's a longtime music buff and covers classic rock for Audio Ink Radio. Contact him at ken@audioinkradio.com.

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