There's a Metallica song Kirk Hammett can't listen to anymore because it makes him cry. The guitarist spoke about the emotional track during a recent interview with Rolling Stone, and his response might surprise you: "Junior Dad" off the band's polarizing 2011 Lou Reed collaboration Lulu.

“That album means so much to me for a number of reasons," Hammett revealed. “The lyrics are amazing. It’s poetry from track to track. I’m a huge Lou Reed fan. To be able to hang out with him and work with him musically meant so much.”

“And the track "Junior Dad" – I can’t listen to it, man. Brings me to tears," he admitted. "I remember when Lou said, ‘I have a song for you and I want this to be on the album.’ And he played it for James [Hetfield] and I. And by the end of the song, I looked at James, and James looked at me and we both had tears in our eyes. Then Lou Reed came in and saw us both crying in the kitchen. He’s smiling and he said, ‘I got you, didn’t I?'”

As Blabbermouth points out, Hammett spoke about the personal impact "Junior Dad" had on him in a 2011 interview. “I had just lost my father literally three or four weeks previous. I had to run out of the control room, and I found myself standing in the kitchen, sobbing away," he said at the time. "James came into the kitchen in the same condition he was sobbing, too. It was insane.”

Lulu received mixed reviews because it was a different musical direction for Metallica; however, Reed and the band always defended it. In 2023, drummer Lars Ulrich blamed the backlash on "ignorance."

“I can’t quite figure it out,” he said, “but years later, it’s aged extremely well. It sounds like a motherf***er still. So I can only put the reaction down to ignorance.”

In the same interview Rolling Stone interview, Hammett revealed he's written 767 riffs for Metallica's next album. “It is such a nightmare going through this stuff, too. And I’m the one responsible for all of it and I can’t do it," he lamented. "I don’t foresee us starting the next album for at least another year because we’re still finishing the 72 Seasons tour.”

“Once we fully finish this and go to all the outlying places like Asia and Australia and New Zealand, I think we’re gonna take a little bit of a break, not too much of one, and then we’re gonna get right back into it,” he added. Unfortunately for fans, Hammett doesn't think they'll start working on their next album “for at least another year.”

Metallica is gearing up to head out on the North American leg of their M72 tour later this month. See a full list of dates below.

Metallica's M72 World Tour 2025 North American Tour Dates

April 12 - Las Vegas, NV Sick New World @ Las Vegas Festival Grounds

April 19 - Syracuse, NY JMA Wireless Dome *

April 24 - Toronto, ON Rogers Centre *

April 26 - Toronto, ON Rogers Centre +

May 1 - Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium *

May 3 - Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium +

May 7 - Blacksburg, VA Lane Stadium *

May 9 - Columbus, OH Sonic Temple @ Historic Crew Stadium

May 11 - Columbus, OH Sonic Temple @ Historic Crew Stadium

May 23 - Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field +

May 25 - Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field *

May 28 - Landover, MD Northwest Stadium *

May 31 - Charlotte, NC Bank of America Stadium *

June 3 - Atlanta, GA Mercedes-Benz Stadium *

June 6 - Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium +

June 8 - Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium *

June 14 - Houston, TX NRG Stadium *

June 20 - Santa Clara, CA Levi’s Stadium +

June 22 - Santa Clara, CA Levi’s Stadium *

June 27 - Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High +

June 29 - Denver, CO Empower Field at Mile High *

* Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies support

+ Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills support

Garbage

Happy Endings

with special guest Starcrawler