Metallica is once again asking its fans to do something pretty badass: give blood. 🤘🩸

The band is teaming up with the American Red Cross for the fifth time, this time around their upcoming Life Burns Faster residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

The Red Cross x Metallica Blood Donation Experience opens September 28 at Fashion Show Las Vegas and runs through March 19. Metallica kicks off its Sphere residency October 1.

And because this is Metallica, they're not exactly making this a boring trip to the blood bank.

The donation center will be loaded with Metallica memorabilia and artwork, plus a replica of the drum kit Lars Ulrich used on one of the band's tours. Donate blood and you'll score a limited-edition T-shirt designed by Squindo — and you'll automatically be entered for a chance to win that replica Lars drum kit.

Metallica fans have already donated more than 90,000 units of blood through the band's previous Red Cross campaigns over the past year and a half.

So yeah… Metallica wants your blood. But this time, they're actually going to a good cause with it.

Ready to bleed for the Black Album? You can sign up at https://www.redcrossblood.org/local-homepage/events/metallica.html

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich says the band is both excited and humbled ahead of their 'Life Burns Faster' residency at Las Vegas Sphere, launching October 1. The extended run includes dates through March 2027, totaling 24 performances. Ulrich, speaking with U2 guitarist The Edge, recalled attending U2's Sphere opening night. "I was so just awestruck, inspired, energized," he said. "Holy sh-t, this is somehow another frontier." He acknowledged the challenge ahead, calling the venue "overwhelming and fu-king intimidating," but welcomed the discomfort. "We gotta start thinking about scaling the Sphere mountain and conquering that" Metallica's recently completed 'M72 World Tour' was officially certified the 10th highest-grossing tour of all time. Following U2, Eagles, Phish, and Dead and Company, Metallica will be among the venue's most anticipated residents. 

Jan 30: Las Vegas Sphere, NV

As of press time, the band's current live plans at the aforementioned venue include:
October 01st & 03rd
October 08th & 10th
October 15th & 17th
October 22nd & 24th
October 29th & 31st
November 05th & 07th
January 28th & January 30th
February 04th & 06th
February 18th & 20th
February 25th & 27th

Ticket Registration is Open Now! Click HERE

Fri 2/27 – Presales For All Travel Packages

Mon 3/2 – Fan Club Presale

Tue 3/3 – Ticketmaster Artist Presale

Thurs 3/5 – Live Nation, SiriusXM, & Sphere Presale

Fri 3/6 – General On Sale @ 10AM PT

For more info and to sign up for the presales beginning Tuesday 3/3, click HERE

For more info on enhanced experiences, click HERE

"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!' This residency gives us another chance to reinvent how we interact with our fans in a live setting. We are beyond excited to share this with the world in six months time, and way fuckin' psyched to go next level!" – Lars Ulrich

Stay tuned HERE for further updates & information 

About Metallica - Formed in 1981 by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich and including guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo, Metallica has become one of the most influential and successful rock bands in history, selling nearly 125 million albums worldwide and generating more than 25 billion streams while playing to millions of fans on all seven continents—more than 1.3 million of whom belong to the band's fiercely loyal and consistently growing Fifth Member fan club. Metallica's catalog of multi-platinum studio albums includes Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, …And Justice for All, Metallica (commonly referred to as The Black Album), Load, ReLoad, St. Anger, Death Magnetic, Hardwired…To Self-Destruct, and most recently, the Grammy-winning 72 Seasons, released April 14, 2023, on the band's own Blackened Recordings label. Metallica's awards and accolades include nine Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, multiple MTV Video Music Awards, a 2009 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and Sweden's Polar Music Prize. In 2017, Metallica established its own charitable foundation, All Within My Hands, to give back to communities that have supported the band. To date, All Within My Hands' collective efforts have raised over $29M to support its mission, and provided grants of $15.3M to career and technical education programs through its Metallica Scholars Initiative, $8.4M to combat food insecurity, and $5.6M to disaster relief and other critical local services worldwide. Visit AllWithinMyHands.org to learn more. 

About Sphere - Sphere is an experiential medium that is redefining the future of immersive experiences. Powered by advanced technologies that ignite the senses, Sphere is a venue where the foremost artists, creators, and technologists create extraordinary experiences that bring storytelling to a new level and transport audiences to places both real and imagined. The venue hosts original Sphere Experiences from leading Hollywood creatives; concerts and residencies from the world's biggest artists; and premier brand events. The first Sphere opened in Las Vegas, with a second venue planned for Abu Dhabi. More information is available at thesphere.com. 

🔥 LIFE BURNS FASTER 🔥

We’re officially bringing our No Repeat Weekends to Sphere in Las Vegas this fall!

October 1 & 3
October 15 & 17
October 22 & 24
October 29 & 31

Two-Night and Single-Night Tickets go on sale on Friday, March 6, beginning at 10 AM PT. There will be… pic.twitter.com/Zd78b9lYAk

— Metallica (@Metallica) February 25, 2026

After months of anticipation, Megadeth's final studio album has officially arrived—and it ends with a full-circle moment decades in the making.

Closing out the record is a bonus rendition of Metallica's "Ride The Lightning," a song written in part by Megadeth founder Dave Mustaine before his 1983 exit from Metallica. Mustaine has described it as a way of paying respect to former bandmates James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, and as his way of "closing the circle" on one of metal's most infamous breakups.

The timing is significant. Mustaine has confirmed Megadeth is preparing for a 3–5 year farewell tour, making this album—and this song—an intentional nod to the past as he looks toward the end of the band's legendary run.

While tensions between Mustaine, Hetfield, and Ulrich reportedly flared again over a royalty dispute involving Metallica's No Life 'Til Leather demo, Mustaine has remained hopeful that fences could eventually be mended.

Whether reconciliation happens or not, this cover stands as a powerful reminder of where thrash metal began—and the history that still crackles beneath it. 

Grab your cocoa and settle in by the fire before your long winter's nap for a reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Papa Het.