'So Close': Watch Metallica Play 'Nothing Else Matters' in Prague

"[T]hat was the song that I thought was least Metallica," James Hetfield once told The Village Voice about "Nothing Else Matters." "...the last song anyone would really want to hear."

It's not that Hetfield doesn't like the song, he just never thought it'd turn into one of Metallica's most-beloved anthems.

"It was a song for myself in my room on tour when I was bumming out about being away from home," he explained to the Voice. "I’m grateful that the guys forced me to take it out of my tape player and make it Metallica."

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While the classic track from the "Black Album" is one of the band's biggest departures from their thrash roots, it is also one of the songs they've performed live the most. Debuting it onstage on March 2, 1992, in Cincinnati, they've played it more than 1,200 times, including at their recent gig at the Prague Rocks festival in the Czech Republic on June 22. That particular performance is Metallica's latest official pro-shot live video and you can watch it below.

Watch Metallica Perform "Nothing Else Matters" Live in Prague

"Nothing Else Matters" was released as an official single from the "Black Album" on April 20, 1992. The U.S. single featured the B-side of "Enter Sandman" performed live at Tushino Airfield in Moscow on Sept. 28, 1991; that entire performance is featured as part of Metallica's deluxe box set reissue of the "Black Album" in 2021.

The song was the most-covered track on The Metallica Blacklist, featuring renditions by artists like Miley Cyrus, Sam Fender, Dave Gahan and Chris Stapleton.

Listen to Chris Stapleton's Cover of "Nothing Else Matters"

'The Metallica Blacklist': 10 Best Metallica Cover Songs on 'Black Album' Tribute

While a compilation of 53 bands covering 12 tracks from one Metallica album is bound to include some misses, The Metallica Blacklist includes a considerable amount of hits. Listening to it over and over and over again, we've picked out the 10 best "Black Album" covers from The Metallica Blacklist; check them out in this gallery.