Nothing Else Matters

Hetfield and Ulrich wrote it, and it was one of four demos made on 13 August 1990. Hetfield wrote it on tour as a private piece for a girlfriend while he was homesick. He later said the words were broad enough to suit long-distance relationships and weddings. It was recorded on 30 May 1991 at One on One, Hetfield plays the solo, and Michael Kamen arranged the orchestral parts played by the London Symphony Orchestra. Hetfield feared its vulnerability did not fit Metallica and was reluctant to share it, but Ulrich heard it and it was considered for the album. Its opening figure came to him while he was on the telephone with the girlfriend it was written for. Hammett does not play on the studio recording, and Randy Staub added tambourine.

The single came out on 20 April 1992 and reached number 6 in the United Kingdom and number 1 in Denmark. Adam Dubin's video premiered on MTV on 25 February 1992, and it passed one billion views on YouTube in August 2021. The video was filmed in North Hollywood in spring 1991 and uses footage from A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica. A European release on 27 April 1992 carried the three songs the band played at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.

Live and covers

The band played it at the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, and it appears on S&M at 6:48. Lucie Silvas covered it in 2005. The Metallica Blacklist includes versions by Miley Cyrus with Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Chad Smith and Trujillo, along with Phoebe Bridgers, Dave Gahan, Chris Stapleton, Igor Levit and Darius Rucker. The S&M version came out as the single Nothing Else Matters '99 on 22 November 1999. An acoustic remix called the Elevator Version, with Kamen's orchestration and Hetfield's voice, is a B-side of Sad but True. Miley Cyrus released her cover on 22 June 2021, produced by Andrew Watt. The Blacklist also holds versions by Mickey Guyton, Dermot Kennedy, Mon Laferte and My Morning Jacket.