Metallica and Miley Cyrus performed live together on The Howard Stern Show yesterday (September 9) to celebrate the 30th anniversary reissue of ‘The Black Album’.

The band marked the milestone with a commemorative release, which also includes ‘The Metallica Blacklist’: a star-studded covers album of tracks from Metallica’s August 1991 album.

Metallica were virtual guests on The Howard Stern Show today, with the band joined by Cyrus, who contributed a cover of ‘Nothing Else Matters’ to ‘The Metallica Blacklist’.

“We’ll be in Los Angeles with Miley, while Howard will be in his New York studio, and in between the chatter, we’ll grab the guitars, climb behind the drums and play a few songs!” Metallica said in a statement beforehand.

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Cyrus took on lead vocal duties on the performance, with frontman James Hetfield joining her on backing vocals. Watch the performance below now.

Ahead of the performance, Metallica and Cyrus talked about the classic song. “Late ‘80s, we built this reputation of tough guys, we’re made of stone,” Hetfield said. “And this is one of the most vulnerable [songs]. The tougher the armour, the bigger the heart you want to show, but you’re afraid to.

“I was shocked when [producer] Bob Rock and Lars [Ulrich] both said, ‘That is beautiful. That’s an amazing song.’ It was a life-changing experience to be OK playing this for them, and them accepting it.”

Cyrus also discussed covering the track during her Glastonbury 2019 set. “This was my first show back, so ‘Nothing Else Matters,’ to me, was about the music,” she said, referencing a period during which she got divorced and lost her home to a wildfire. “To hear James say he was afraid of something, and knowing that at that point I was afraid of so much, I was so heartbroken. And my purpose was coming from this performance.

“I got sober at that time. I really pulled my fucking shit together. And this song was what drove me to that place, because I knew that nothing else mattered. This is my love letter to music.”

Earlier this month Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich’s sons announced their new band, Taipei Houston.

The band – consisting of Layne Ulrich on bass and vocals, and Myles on drums – initially shared a snippet of a new song titled ‘Respecter’.

Cyrus, meanwhile, recently covered Janis Joplin’s 1969 track ‘Maybe’ during her performance at BottleRock festival.