Once you’ve reached a certain level of stardom, you can start to do things without really giving a fuck. You can work on projects that aren’t going to be a smash hit simply because, well…why not? You have complete creative freedom because you’re not encumbered by the demands of your fans and your peers. There must be something incredibly liberating about that, I think. Then again, I can’t really say as I’ve never found myself in that envious position.

But on November 16th, 1996, heavy metal band Metallica made a decision that showed how little they cared about “the man” and just how much they cared about “being metal”. That was the day that the band changed their performance at the MTV Europe Music Awards at the very last second, unbeknownst to the producers. The band was supposed to play their song “King Nothing” but the MTV officials made the mistake of telling the quartet that no expletives were allowed.

Fuck. That.

Instead of “King Nothing”, Metallica whipped out two other tracks in their arsenal, the first being their cover of “Last Caress”, originally by The Misfits, and the second being “So What?”, which comes from UK punk rockers Anti-Nowhere League. Both songs are packed to the brim with controversial lyrics and offensive material, so it’s understandable that future airings of the award ceremony flat out cut Metallica’s performance. In fact, no reference to the band was permitted.

Say what you want about Metallica but they have always kicked ass in my books. This is just another example of that.