The Time Marianne Faithfull Recorded With Metallica

When Marianne Faithfull died on January 30, some of rock’s biggest names paid tribute.

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Mick Jagger, whom Faithfull dated, remembered her on X as “a wonderful friend, a beautiful singer and a great actress. She will always be remembered.”

Metallica’s drummer, Lars Ulrich, added to his band’s social media, “And the biggest Thank You and F–k Yeah for your incredible and unique contribution to our music, and for always being so willing to join us in performing it… and partake in the ensuing shenanigans! Rest in Peace.”

Wild Horses

It’s hard to separate Faithfull from The Rolling Stones. Andrew Loog Oldham, the band’s manager, spotted her at a Rolling Stones party in 1964. He asked if she could sing. Soon after, Faithfull recorded her first single, “As Tears Go By.”

The hit single also marks one of the earliest—and the very first by some accounts—songs written by Jagger and Keith Richards (and Oldham).

More than three decades later, she connected with another legendary group, appearing on Metallica’s 1997 song “The Memory Remains.”

Fortune, fame
Mirror, vain
Gone insane
But the memory remains

Singer James Hetfield had recorded wordless vocals for a section of “The Memory Remains.” At the time, it felt unfinished but engineer Randy Staub liked the part and convinced Hetfield to keep the arrangement.

He agreed but thought someone else should sing its “la, la” refrain.

Metallica’s longtime producer Bob Rock suggested Faithfull. Rock gave Hetfield a copy of her 1996 live album, 20th Century Blues. The record’s dark cabaret impressed the singer and he thought Faithfull’s weathered voice was perfect for the part.

Like a Rolling Stone

Though Hetfield describes fading Hollywood fame, “The Memory Remains” also mirrors aspects of Faithfull’s rollercoaster life from the Swinging Sixties to the gothic drama of her later career. All of it stitched by fame, drugs, and resilience.

Heavy rings hold cigarettes
Up to lips that time forgets
While the Hollywood sun sets behind your back

In 1979, Faithfull made a comeback with Broken English. She’d earned the weathered voice through years of addiction and a short spell of homelessness. And laryngitis had further transformed her once youthful voice into a hardened rasp.

Still, the transformation suited the rawness of her new wave return, and Broken English became Faithfull’s masterpiece. It certainly fits “The Memory Remains” and a band whose biggest album is known as The Black Album.

After connecting by phone, Faithfull and Metallica met at a studio in Dublin where she recorded her parts. She also accompanied the band to perform “The Memory Remains” on Saturday Night Live.

Metallica’s seventh album, Reload, divided fans and critics. But “The Memory Remains” offered a way into the band’s music for those who don’t typically listen to heavy metal. And the pumped-up album opener, “Fuel,” remains one of Metallica’s most popular songs.

The Ballad of Marianne Faithfull

In the music video for “The Memory Remains,” Metallica performs on a large swing inside a room. Staring at the revolving band, Faithfull cranks a street organ, which seems to control the giant swing. She looks cool and aloof, singing in what author Salman Rushdie once described as “the voice of a slightly zoned-out chorister.”

Replace “the” with “her” in “The Memory Remains” and Metallica would’ve had the perfect song title for Faithfull’s extraordinary life.

Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/WireImage