Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters blasts Metallica’s Hetfield as ‘a nobody’

Roger Waters, the former Pink Floyd bassist and vocalist, has lashed out at Metallica frontman James Hetfield, calling him a “prick” and dismissing his musicianship, days after Mr. Hetfield told a Las Vegas crowd that the band does not use its concerts to push politics.

At the band’s Sphere show on Saturday, Mr. Hetfield, 63, said Metallica is not there “to influence you with their bullshit.” He did not name anyone. The remark came weeks after rapper Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s U.S. stadium tour following a pro-Palestinian speech onstage.

Mr. Waters, 83, addressed the comments on “The Katie Halper Show” this week. According to Louder, the host walked him through Metallica’s political lyrics and a 2007 interview in which Mr. Hetfield said politics drove him crazy. She also revisited his 2008 remarks about the use of Metallica’s music in U.S. military interrogations of prisoners. Mr. Hetfield said at the time that part of him was proud and part was bummed about it. In a 2017 interview, he said he was “honored” if his country was using the music to help keep people safe, adding that he had no control over it once it was released.

“Can we stop talking about this prick?” Mr. Waters asked, adding, “I’m so bored with him. He’s just showing that he’s a complete prick. He’s got an IQ of about three, and why we’re talking about him, I honestly don’t know, because he’s a nobody.”

It is not the first time Mr. Waters has taken aim at a heavy metal act. After Ozzy Osbourne died in July 2025, he said he did not care about Black Sabbath’s music, prompting backlash from the Osbourne family. He doubled down in a January interview with Piers Morgan, saying he did not like people who “bite the heads off bats.”

Metallica had not commented publicly as of Thursday, Louder reported. The band’s 24-date Sphere residency runs through March 2027.