James Hetfield's mic was cut off for the first half of the band's performance with Lady Gaga on Sunday.
Something tells us Metallica's bad side isn't somewhere you want to be.
GRAMMYs producer Ken Erlich has issued an apology to the band for the technical difficulties that persisted during their performance with Lady Gaga at the awards show on Sunday, forcing lead singer James Hetfield to share Gaga's mic.
"These kinds of things are horrible when they happen," Ehrlich said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday. "That's one of the risks of live television."
While Hetfield has stayed mum on the mishap, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich revealed during a Tuesday appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden that Hetfield was "livid." To add insult to injury, the band's name was also left out of their introduction. Presenter Laverne Cox only mentioned Lady Gaga while introducing the performance.
"I haven't seen him like that in 20 years," Ulrich said. "He was livid. I mean, he's aged really well and he's a pretty chill guy, but the first five or 10 minutes in that dressing room [were] not a lot of fun."
"Obviously, we apologize to the band," Ehrlich told the AP, calling the incident "awful." The producer also added that witnessing the glitch was personally upsetting to him after years of working with the band. "You hurt," he said.
While Metallica blamed the snafu on a dead microphone, Ehrlich reported that he had heard it was a matter of human error. "My guys say that the mic cable was connected," he shared. "My guys' theory was that… one of the extras [on stage] accidentally kicked out the cable that went to the mic."
Of course, the Metallica blunder wasn't the only gaffe during Sunday's awards show. Adele made headlines after she restarted her tribute to George Michael mid-performance.
"When you do a three-and-a-half hour live show, it's fraught with danger," Ehrlich said. "It was an adventurous show in many ways."
See more on the Metallica mess in the video below.
