Following the renewed interest and chart success of their 1986 single “Master of Puppets,” which was featured in a scene on season four of the Netflix series Stranger Things when the character Eddie Munson shreds through the metal classic in the Upside Down world, Metallica issued a statement on the surprising re-emergence of their ’80s classic.
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“The way the Duffer Brothers have incorporated music into Stranger Things has always been next level, so we were beyond psyched for them to not only include ‘Master of Puppets’ in the show but to have such a pivotal scene built around it,” said the band in a statement on social media. “We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did we were totally blown away. It’s so extremely well done, so much so that some folks were able to guess the song just by seeing a few seconds of Joseph Quinn’s hands in the trailer. How crazy cool is that?”
The band added, “It’s an incredible honor to be such a big part of Eddie’s journey and to once again be keeping company with all of the other amazing artists featured in the show.”
As a result of the renewed interest in the song on the Netflix series, “Master of Puppets” has been creeping up the charts, hitting No. 12 on the Spotify Top U.S. chart and No. 26 on its Top 50 Global chart.
Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo and his 17-year-old son Tye Trujillo also contributed additional guitar tracks to the “Master Of Puppets” version that appears in the series. Trujillo later revealed that Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett also contributed to the remastered track.
“That’s my boy, proud of ya Tye,” wrote the bassist on his Instagram page. “‘Stranger Things’ finale shredding it on ‘Master of Puppets’ and big thanks to Kirk Hammett on helping.”
Joseph Quinn, who plays Munson on Stranger Things, described shooting the scene while “Master of Puppets” played in the background.
“I wouldn’t wanna mess with what they’ve already got, but it was very useful to be able to play along character-wise,” said Quinn. “It’s a pretty adolescent fantasy to be a rock star, isn’t it? I felt like one for a night. It was great having Gaten [Matarazzo] up there with me. They really turned it up when they played ‘Master of Puppets’ and the whole crew was there. It was the first time that everyone felt like they were seeing live music—I say ‘live music’—since the pandemic. So it felt like a real celebration.”
Photo: Ross Halfin / Nasty Little Man
