Daron Malakian Recalls Filling In for Hetfield in 2000 Metallica Tour

In a recent podcast appearance, System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian recounted his unexpected role filling in for Metallica frontman James Hetfield during the band's 2000 Summer Sanitarium tour, an experience that began on stage and spanned several shows.

The events unfolded in July 2000, when Hetfield suffered an injury in a jet ski accident, sidelining him temporarily. Rather than cancel performances, Metallica pressed on with the tour, which featured opening acts including System of a Down, Korn, Kid Rock and Powerman 5000. At the time, System of a Down had released only its self-titled debut album a year earlier and remained largely unknown to mainstream audiences, with its breakthrough album Toxicity still a year away.

Malakian, then 22 years old, described the pivotal moment during an episode of Rick Rubin's Tetragrammaton podcast. His band had just performed its opening set at one show when Metallica took the stage without Hetfield. Former bassist Jason Newsted handled vocals initially, joined later by Korn frontman Jonathan Davis for an impromptu cover of a Cheech and Chong song. Sensing the band's disarray, Malakian approached his guitar technician and asked him to...