WHAT WENT DOWN
Kirk Hammett and Rob Trujillo played a chunk of Tom Jones’ “Delilah” at Principality Stadium in Cardiff on June 28 — a venue that banned the song in 2023 over lyrics depicting a man murdering his jealous partner *†. The crowd sang along anyway †.
THE DETAILS
- The cover happened eight songs into Metallica’s Cardiff show during their nightly “doodle” slot after “Fuel” *.
- Principality Stadium first pulled “Delilah” from playlists in 2015, then formally banned it in 2023 during public scrutiny of the Welsh Rugby Union over sexism and misogyny allegations *.
- The song had been a rugby match staple performed by choirs at the stadium before the ban *.
- Tom Jones, 86, criticized the ban when it was announced, asking “Who was the man who didn’t want us to sing ‘Delilah’?” †
- Metallica wraps their UK run with London Stadium shows July 1 and 3, then opens a Sphere residency in Las Vegas starting October 1 *.
THE TAKE
Metallica’s M72 tour honors local acts with covers at every stop, and they picked the one song the venue explicitly doesn’t want played *†. The stadium banned it, the crowd knew every word.