Metallica saved by Stones
Metallica were saved from splitting up - by the Rolling Stones.
The Enter Sandman hitmakers were in limbo following the release of their 'St Anger' album in 2003.
Drummer Lars Ulrich admits the band's future was "pretty bleak" and he was preparing himself for "something different" when frontman James Hetfield took months off to fight his addiction to alcohol.
But it was the chance of performing on the same bill as the Stones that saved Metallica from meltdown.
Ulrich says: "The big turnaround was when the Rolling Stones called us in the summer of 2005 and asked if we would play with them in San Francisco. We hadn't done anything since the 'St Anger' tour ended seven or eight months earlier. We showed up at HQ four or five days before the gig. None of us had seen each other for quite a while.
"There was no film crew, no producer, no psychiatrist, no minders, no babysitters, none of that s**t. It was just us four guys and we started playing music and rehearsing. And it was so effortless and low key without all the c**p.
"We didn't have to sit down and talk about how we were feeling and all of that horses**t. That set the tone for the next three years and it's been great."
