Metallica’s "Nothing Else Matters" Reaches 1 Billion Streams on Spotify

Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” has now crossed the monumental 1 billion streams mark on Spotify. This track, from the band’s blockbuster 1991 self-titled album, divides opinions like few others. Some call it a soulful ballad, while others—often the old guard—consider it the ideal beer-run anthem during live shows.

But the numbers don’t lie: less than 500 songs have hit this streaming milestone, and Metallica now has two tracks in that exclusive club.

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The Black Album cover was… just black. No logos, no frills, just black. Lars claimed it was to let the music speak for itself, but maybe they just ran out of ideas that week.

Considering Metallica only joined Spotify in December 2012, this accomplishment came in under 11 years. The Black Album, with its radio-friendly charm and relentless mainstream reach, has never truly left the spotlight. In other words, no shocker here that this track raked in the streams.

The backstory of this song, however, might be the best part. James Hetfield himself once confessed that “Nothing Else Matters” almost didn’t make it out of the private songbook.

Composed during one of those endless, grind-heavy tours, he’d written it about missing his girlfriend at the time—far from the usual head-banging, fury-driven Metallica themes. Hetfield’s hesitancy to share it with the band shows his doubts about its place in Metallica’s world.

In his own words, Hetfield shared with Mojo Magazine:

“I didn’t even want to play it for the guys at first. I thought Metallica could only be about the four of us. Our songs were supposed to be about destruction, head banging, bleeding for the crowd…as long as it wasn’t about chicks or fast cars, even though we liked those things too. The song was about a girlfriend at the time. It turned out to be a pretty big song.”

This latest milestone means “Nothing Else Matters” joins “Enter Sandman,” which reached the 1 billion streams club back in January. As for what’s next, “Master of Puppets” has over 722 million streams but still has a bit of a climb.

Metallica clearly knows how to tap into the mainstream without losing its edge. And while some fans still treat this ballad as an intermission track, it seems Spotify’s massive numbers beg to differ.