Glastonbury Festival promoter Michael Eavis is defending his booking of Metallica as the first metal band to headline the prestigious event later this month following criticism that the group doesn’t fit with the spirit and image of the weekend festival.
“We have been going for so long that people don't expect us to put on a heavy metal band," Eavis tells the BBC. "We had Rage Against The Machine and we have had lots of fairly heavy metal bands in the past but this is not a typical headline. We usually have bands like Radiohead, Coldplay and U2, the Rolling Stones, but I am really looking forward to them."
"There's no other band in the whole history of the festival that has been so keen to play,” he added, “they will do the best set of their lives here."
An online petition was recently launched requesting the removal of Metallica from the Glastonbury lineup following news that frontman James Hetfield will narrate “The Hunt”, a new series about bear hunting in Alaska that debuted on The History Channel earlier this month.
A website and a companion Facebook page – created by an unidentified source – were claiming Hetfield’s association with hunting and the new series does not match “the spirit of Glastonbury.”
Both sites are no longer active.
Other headline acts at this year's festival, which is held on Eavis's Somerset farm from June 25-29, include Arcade Fire and Kasabian.
Launched in 1970, Glastonbury is one of the longest-running festivals in the UK.
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Search Metallica at hennemusic
