Roger Waters has answered James Hetfield’s onstage swipe at politically outspoken musicians, and he did not hold back. Speaking on Katie Halper’s podcast this week, the Pink Floyd co-founder called the Metallica frontman a “prick,” said he has “an IQ of about three,” and dismissed him as “a nobody.” Metallica had not responded publicly as of Thursday, October 15.
The exchange pits two of rock’s biggest names against each other on the question that keeps resurfacing in 2026: should musicians use the stage to talk politics?
What Hetfield said at the Sphere
The row starts in Las Vegas. On Saturday, October 10, during the fourth of Metallica’s ten shows at the Sphere, Hetfield paused to address the crowd. According to Consequence, he said: “I just gotta say, Metallica is not here, like some other entertainers, to influence you with their bullshit, OK?” He followed it with a rallying line: “Metallica’s agenda is love, energy and heavy music, baby!”
Hetfield did not name anyone. Guitar Player and Louder both connected the timing to Macklemore’s removal from an Ed Sheeran tour after he said “Free Palestine” onstage. Guitar Player reports that the other support acts and members of Sheeran’s backing band then walked off the tour in solidarity. The magazine also notes that Tom Morello took a more nuanced line the day before Hetfield spoke, arguing that artists don’t need to address politics unless it is authentic to them.
Guitar Player points out an irony in the Sphere setlist itself: the show opened with “Blackened” and closed with “One,” two songs that deal directly with war and social collapse.
Waters’ response
Waters, who has spent decades putting politics at the center of his work, was asked about Hetfield’s remarks by Halper. According to Louder, she played him an old Hetfield interview from around 2007’s Live Earth, in which the Metallica singer said “politics drive me crazy.” She also raised the reports from 2008 that Metallica’s music had been used by U.S. interrogators on prisoners in Iraq.
Waters’ reaction, as quoted across Louder, Consequence and Ultimate Classic Rock, was scathing. “He’s just showing that he’s a complete prick,” he said. “He’s got an IQ of about three, and why we’re talking about him, I don’t even know, because he’s a nobody.”
He went after Hetfield’s playing too. Accounts differ slightly on the wording here. Louder quotes him as saying, “I heard them playing acoustic instruments and it was appalling,” while Consequence and Guitar Player have him saying they “couldn’t” play them. Either way, Louder reports he also declared that Hetfield is “no musician.”
There was a more personal note as well. Guitar Player quotes Waters wishing Hetfield had grown up with “a mama or a dad or a friend or even a cousin” who took him aside, and Consequence reports he said it was a shame Hetfield “didn’t have somebody around him to explain that being kind is way more important.” According to Consequence and Far Out, Waters closed the segment with a call for solidarity with Palestinians.
Not Waters’ first fight with a fellow rock star
Waters has rarely avoided a public clash. Far Out notes that his comments about Ozzy Osbourne after Osbourne’s death drew a furious response, and that he has also traded blows with Sharon Osbourne over his role as an executive producer on the Palestinian documentary Freedom Theater. He has been one of the most outspoken figures in rock on Israel and Gaza for years, and few musicians have drawn more criticism for it.
Hetfield, by contrast, has generally kept Metallica out of political debate. He has also said in the past that politics “drive me crazy,” and the Sphere comment fits that long-held line: Metallica shows are meant to be an escape, not a lecture.
What happens next
Metallica’s Sphere run, titled “Life Burns Faster,” continues. Louder reports the band is back on stage there on October 15 and that the residency runs into March. Metal Hammer told readers it had approached Metallica’s representatives for comment. So far, there has been no reply.
That leaves the question with the fans. Some will see Hetfield’s remark as a fair request to leave politics outside a rock show. Others will side with Waters and argue that rock has always been political, from Pink Floyd’s The Wall to Metallica’s own “One.” What isn’t in doubt is that two of the genre’s biggest names are now publicly on opposite sides, and one of them has made it very personal.
