Watch Metallica Perform ‘Lux Æterna’ Live for First Time at Benefit Concert

Metallica performed their new song “Lux Æterna” live for the first time Friday night at the band’s annual benefit concert in support of their All Within My Hands Foundation.

“We thought that this is such a special gig here that we’d play ‘Lux Æterna,’ which is the first single from it. We’ll play that for the first time here live. How about that?” James Hetfield told the crowd.

After a false start, the metal legends then launched into the debut performance of the 72 Seasons single, which they released in late November.

While “Lux Æterna” was the lone preview from their upcoming LP, the All Within My Hands benefit concert, held this year at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater, did have its share of surprises, including Metallica’s first-ever covers of Thin Lizzy’s “Borderline” and UFO’s “It’s Killing Me” (both performed acoustic) as well as special guest St. Vincent, who sang “Nothing Else Matters” alongside the band.

(Annie Clark is no stranger to Black Album classics, having covered “Sad But True” for Metallica’s Blacklist tribute album. She also chatted with guitarist Kirk Hammett as part of Rolling Stone‘s Musicians on Musicians issue.)

Metallica’s full Helping Hands concert will be available to stream starting Dec. 19 on Paramount+.

Following the benefit show, Metallica won’t return to the road until April 2023 — the same month as 72 Seasons’ release — when they kick off their two-year M72 Tour, where Metallica will play two nights in every city on the trek, with set lists that won’t repeat songs night to night. The trek touches down in North America in August 2023 with Pantera and Mammoth WVH in tow.