Metallica Bring Elton John to His Feet With a Thunderous ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ Tribute

Metallica’s tribute to Elton John and Bernie Taupin ends with a revealing cut to the audience: John is on his feet, applauding, while Taupin smiles beside him. The band’s performance of “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding,” filmed at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 2024, gives one of John’s most expansive songs the weight of a four-piece metal band.

The occasion was the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, awarded to the songwriting partnership behind decades of John’s recordings. Hosted by Billy Porter, the concert brought together performers including Joni Mitchell, Garth Brooks, Annie Lennox, Brandi Carlile and Metallica. The programme later aired on PBS, placing the band within a much broader celebration of the two writers’ catalogue.

Their selection came from the opening of John’s 1973 double album, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. The original “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” runs for more than eleven minutes, moving from an extended instrumental introduction into the vocal-led second section. That structure gives a cover band plenty to negotiate: atmosphere, recognizable melodic lines and a convincing transition into the song’s driving rhythm.

Metallica make the guitar central to that journey. James Hetfield carries familiar melodic figures into an electric setting before taking his place at the microphone, while Kirk Hammett adds another guitar voice. The resulting arrangement keeps the composition’s identity clear while bringing it into the band’s own instrumental language.

The camera repeatedly brings Lars Ulrich’s yellow drum kit and Robert Trujillo’s bass into view. Those wider shots matter: the performance depends on the four musicians moving together through its changes. Close-ups of Hetfield capture the concentration of his delivery, with the vintage-style microphone and red-lit stage giving the televised performance a distinctive visual character.

There is another layer to playing this material in this particular room. John and Taupin are listening to a major reinterpretation of their own work, and the broadcast keeps returning to their responses. That exchange between stage and audience gives the full performance below much of its appeal.

Near the end, the applause shot brings the tribute’s purpose back into focus. John, wearing a pale pink suit and round red glasses, claps beside Taupin as people around them rise and applaud. It is a visible response from the two musicians being honoured, preserved in the same recording as the band’s performance.

Viewers have picked up on that moment. Comments beneath Metallica’s official upload celebrate the band’s skill with covers and John’s visible enthusiasm. One listener treats his quick standing ovation as the clearest endorsement; another praises the consistency of Metallica’s interpretations of other artists. Those reactions connect the playing onstage with the response from the songwriters in the room.

Other comments focus on the musical choices. Listeners praise the translation of keyboard melodies into guitar parts, draw attention to Ulrich’s playing and ask for another Metallica covers collection. Together, those reactions show several routes into the performance: the arrangement itself, the ensemble playing and the pleasure of seeing John enjoy the tribute.

The admiration also has a history. In 2021, John played piano on Miley Cyrus’s version of “Nothing Else Matters” for The Metallica Blacklist. During a related Howard Stern appearance, he spoke warmly about Metallica’s songwriting. The Gershwin performance therefore belongs to an exchange between artists who had already found a connection across their different musical backgrounds.

John’s own live rendition of “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” at Madison Square Garden offers a useful companion. It places the piano back at the centre and lets listeners hear how much of the song’s dramatic shape survives when Metallica take it into a different setting.

The Stern Show performance of “Nothing Else Matters” with Cyrus and Metallica provides another chapter in that connection. Recorded in 2021, it captures the band sharing the song with a guest vocalist, ahead of their later turn as interpreters of John and Taupin’s music.