Elton John was utterly immersed in the magic of Metallica's cover of his medley 'Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding' at the 2024 Gershwin Prize concert.
The performance honoured the legendary musician and his songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin.
"Sir Elton John helped cover Nothing Else Matters on The Metallica Blacklist in 2021, and tonight, you can see us return the favour!" the band said.
Elton looked on delighted as the metal band took on the tunes, and he wasn't the only one impressed by their rendition.
"The thing I love about Metallica covers is that they somehow are ALWAYS able to make the song sound undeniably Metallica-like," one YouTube commenter wrote, "... and yet still keep the essence and feel of the original track with enormous respect to its author!"
"Elton was fascinated," said another. "You can tell he felt proud of the way Metallica's performance turned out."
"I didn't have Metallica covering an Elton John track on my 2024 bingo card," remarked another, "but damn is it ever a stunningly beautiful surprise!"
The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song is the nation's highest award for influence, impact and achievement in the field of popular song.
It was established in 2007 to recognize and honor the artists whose creative works, both printed and recorded, are collected, preserved, made accessible, and valued by the nation's library.
