SLIPKNOT frontman Corey Taylor believes that METALLICA was "disrespected" at this year's Grammy Awards. METALLICA's collaboration with pop superstar Lady Gaga at the 59th annual event in Los Angeles on February 12 turned into something of a disaster when the Grammy sound crew did not turn frontman James Hetfield's mic on, forcing him to share the mic with Gaga after the first verse and chorus. As a further humiliation, presenter Laverne Cox did not even introduce METALLICA by name. At the end of the song, a visibly angry Hetfield hurled his guitar at a road crew member while kicking over his mic stand. During an interview on the "ETC Show", Taylor offered his opinion of METALLICA's appearance on the Grammys, saying: "I feel bad for METALLICA. Honestly, because at this point in their career they shouldn't have been disrespected like that. The fact that… They shut [Hetfield's microphone] off. METALLICA doesn't have control of that." He continued: "The thing that people have to remember... I'm gonna give you a little background. All of METALLICA's people are not allowed to work on live performances on television. None of us are. They have a sound producer and a whole crew of people who work on those shows, and then your people work right behind them, all right? But you're not allowed to touch anything, which is horseshit, because stuff like this then happens. The fact that then they weren't introduced? It was just, 'Oh, here's Lady Gaga…' Oh, by the way, she's fucking with METALLICA, you dick." Taylor added: "I have a lot of very strong opinions about the Grammys anyway, [but] that really cemented it for me. We don't need your respect. We don't need you to make us feel like we accomplished something, 'cause all you do is open our mouths and shit in it, and I'm tired of tastin' it. So, fuck you, dude. And by the way, I've won one, so it's not a big deal. They don't even really listen to this shit. They go, 'Oh, I recognize that name. There you go.'" Taylor's latest comments echo those he made a year ago when he said that he didn't "have time" for the Grammy Awards, explaining that the annual show was nothing but "a popularity contest" among aging music industry insiders, many of whom have had a long history of ignoring hard rock and heavy metal. He said: "To me, the real reflection of where you're at is [performing live], and that's all it is. Walking on that stage and seeing a massive audience lose their minds — that's what it's all about. You can take those statuettes all day long; I don't care. It's cool to win, but I'm not gonna fucking die if we don't win a Grammy, you know." Although SLIPKNOT has been nominated for more than ten Grammy Awards, it has won only one — picking up the "Best Metal Performance" gong in 2006 with the single "Before I Forget". During a 2014 appearance on the Nerdist podcast, Taylor took issue with the Grammys and their voting process, saying: "Old people vote [on those awards]. I'm convinced that's the reason we won, is because an old person went, 'SLIPKNOT! I read a magazine article about them. They've been around. Here you go. Take it. The kids are gonna be real happy.' 'Cause you look at it, and you're, like, fuckin' JUDAS PRIEST won one for a live version of a song they released 40 years ago, and the live version was released 20 years before that. And they only re-released it because of a box set. And they gave it to them? I'm, like, 'Fucking what?'" He went on to say: "It doesn't mean anything. I mean, that's like trying to hit a fucking needle with another needle. You have one metal category, you have one basic rock category, and you've got bands like FUN winning it. And I'm, like, 'Really? Show me on the doll where FUN is a rock band.'" To date, Taylor's other band, STONE SOUR, has received three Grammy Award nominations for "Best Metal Performance" for the singles "Get Inside", "Inhale" and "30/30-150". METALLICA was up for a Grammy this year for "Best Rock Song" for the track "Hardwired" from its new album, "Hardwired... To Self-Destruct", but lost to the late David Bowie's "Blackstar".
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