James Hetfield has just paid tribute to his late friend Cliff Burton.
As the iconic band’s Australian tour continues The Sandman’s Entrance 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 photo uploaded shows James proudly standing next to the mural next to one of its creators.
The mural showed Cliff against a backdrop 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 was tragically killed in 1986 in a bus accident in Sweden while the band was on tour. He was later replaced by Jason Newsted, who served until 2001 before being replaced by Robert Trujillo in 2003.
Metallica fans flooded the comments sections, gushing over James Hetfield’s gesture and 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,” another wrote.
