James Hetfield Shows Off New Hair Ahead of Metallica’s Sphere Residency
The Metallica frontman, 63, turned up at a Las Vegas punk museum with a jet-black stripe through his hair, four days before the band's 24-show run at Sphere begins.
- James Hetfield, 63, showed off a jet-black stripe through his near-white hair in a photo The Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas posted on Sunday, Sept. 27.
- Metallica opens Life Burns Faster, a 24-show residency at Sphere, on Thursday, Oct. 1. It runs through March 13, 2027.
- The shows come in Thursday-Saturday pairs called No Repeat Weekends: no song is played twice across the two nights.
New hair, new stage. James Hetfield, 63, debuted a jet-black stripe through his near-white hair during a visit to The Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas, four days before Metallica opens its residency at Sphere.
The museum posted a photo of the visit on Instagram on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 27: “Thanks to James Hetfield from @metallica for stopping by and checking out the museum today! Who’s coming to see the @spherevegas shows?”
What happened to James Hetfield’s hair?
In the museum’s photo, the Metallica frontman’s spiky, near-white hair has a jet-black stripe running down the middle. He is throwing up devil horns outside the entrance, in a black T-shirt with Japanese lettering.
Some fans quickly nicknamed it the “reverse Alex Skolnick,” after the Testament guitarist, whose black hair has a silver streak in front. Hetfield has not said anything publicly about the change.
The look is new. In the band’s official video from its show in London on July 5, there was no black stripe.
The shirt is a Japanese-edition design for Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing, the 1982 debut album by the British punk band Discharge, whose name is spelled out in katakana across the top.
It fits the resume: Metallica covered two Discharge songs, “Free Speech for the Dumb” and “The More I See,” on Garage Inc. in 1998.
What is The Punk Rock Museum?
It is a 12,000-square-foot museum a short drive off the Las Vegas Strip, opened in 2023, with thousands of artifacts from the history of punk.
When does Metallica’s Sphere residency start?
The first show is Thursday, Oct. 1, at Sphere, the 17,600-seat venue next to The Venetian. Life Burns Faster runs 24 shows over 12 weekends, with every show listed at 8:30 p.m. PT.
The band first announced eight October dates on Feb. 25, then added 16 more across two announcements in March, pushing the run into 2027.
About 12 seconds into the opening night of Sphere with U2 back in ’23, I thought ‘We have to do this, it’s completely uncharted territory!’
Lars Ulrich, in the band’s announcement
Here are all 12 weekends, Thursday and Saturday:
- Oct. 1 and 3
- Oct. 8 and 10
- Oct. 15 and 17
- Oct. 22 and 24
- Oct. 29 and 31
- Nov. 5 and 7
- Jan. 28 and 30, 2027
- Feb. 4 and 6
- Feb. 18 and 20
- Feb. 25 and 27
- March 4 and 6
- March 11 and 13
What is a Metallica No Repeat Weekend?
It is the format the band started with the M72 World Tour in 2023. Each weekend is two shows with completely different set lists, so a fan who goes both nights hears no song twice.
That is why tickets were sold two ways when they went on sale on March 6: as two-night packages and as single nights. The trailer the band released for the residency shows how the Sphere’s exterior will be used:
What else is Metallica doing in Las Vegas?
- Pop-up shop: merchandise, city-specific vinyl and posters at the Summit Showroom at The Venetian Resort, with hours that run until after the show on concert nights.
- Black Box Fridays: the band’s memorabilia museum opens to the public on select Fridays from 2 to 8 p.m. On Oct. 2 and Oct. 9, the artist Squindo does a Q&A at 4 p.m.
- Blood drive: the American Red Cross is taking donations at Fashion Show Las Vegas, weekdays from noon to 6 p.m., through March 19. Donors get a shirt with Squindo art and an entry to win Lars Ulrich’s Tama drum kit.
It is not the band’s first: tour blood drives led by All Within My Hands, Metallica’s foundation, with the Red Cross and partners abroad have collected nearly 40,000 donations.
More from Music: William Shatner, 95, debuts his heavy metal band at Riot Fest, Olivia Rodrigo’s full Unraveled tour setlist and why Carrot Top’s Luxor show was canceled.
— Bruno Monteiro
Sources: The Punk Rock Museum on Instagram, Sept. 27, 2026; Metallica and Sphere Entertainment, residency announcement (Feb. 25, 2026) and added dates (March 2026); Live Nation event listings (show times); Loudwire (Rob Carroll, Sept. 29, 2026; Chuck Armstrong, Sept. 29, 2026, for the Las Vegas events schedule); Las Vegas Review-Journal (John Katsilometes); Rolling Stone (Red Cross donation totals). Photos and video: Metallica official channel (72 Seasons interview, 2023; London show, July 5, 2026; Life Burns Faster trailer); Guitar Center, 2014; Apple Music, 2023.
Reported from thepunkrockmuseum on Instagram.
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