Video: METALLICA Joined By Chinese Concert Pianist LANG LANG At Beijing Concert

METALLICA was joined by Lang Lang during the band’s January 18 concert at LeSports Center in Beijing.

As expected, the Chinese concert pianist played METALLICA’s classic song “One” from the “…And Justice For All” album.

Fan-filmed video footage of Lang Lang’s appearance can be seen below.

METALLICA previously performed the track with Lang Lang in January 2014 at the 56th annual Grammy Awards.

In announcing its collaboration with Lang Lang at the Beijing concert, METALLICA called their joint appearance at the Grammy Awards three years ago “one of the most creative, unique performances of our career.”

Grammys executive producer Ken Ehrlich told ABC News Radio about how METALLICA’s collaboration with Lang Lang came about: “METALLICA’s manager was in China and he met with a guy who presents Lang Lang there, and they just started talking about it. Independently, I actually had called [METALLICA’s] manager and said, ‘Look, we’re interested in you in the Grammys this year,’ and the first thing out of his mouth was, ‘How about us and Lang Lang?'”

“Somehow the METALLICA team had this great idea to work together,” Lang Lang told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

“The Grammys are basically a stage for synthesizing music together. It’s a perfect stage for musical friends to be united.”

He added: “They were such cool people and I had a wonderful time working with them.

“Now everywhere I go, particularly in America, everyone is talking about it,” Lang Lang said. “Even checking into a place, going through customs, people say, ‘Wow, you played really great!'”

During the rehearsals for the Grammy Awards, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told Artisan News about playing with Lang Lang: “Well, I would like to think that on a broader scale that music is music. We have a tendency in METALLICA to not look much beyond that in terms of definitions. But, obviously, he’s a very talented musician, he’s a very dynamic musician, he projects himself very well. I mean, when he plays, he’s really full of energy and he’s got a lot of kind of showmanship and kind of energy that protrudes off the stage and right into people’s hearts and souls. So I would like to think that it’s a good collaboration.”

METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett told Rolling Stone that the band’s performance at the Grammy Awards was “completely insane.” He explained, “Lang Lang has interjected himself into the song in a way I don’t think anyone else has ever done in the course of our career. He’s playing major parts of the song. He’s playing through the melody.”

Hammett told The Pulse Of Radio that the song’s arrangement highlighted Lang Lang’s playing without changing the song. “We’re not lightening up the song just for him,” he said. “We’re still hanging onto all the heavy parts and it’s gonna be amazing. He’s just an amazing pianist, and at one point he’s, like, weaving in and out of my guitar solo and playing parts of my guitar solo with me. That’s interesting. I’ve never, ever experienced that ever before with anyone we’ve ever played with.”

“One” was the first single released from METALLICA’s 1988 album “…And Justice For All”, becoming the first song from the band to gain substantial commercial radio airplay. It was also the basis for the first music video the group ever did.