Metallica Celebrate Alice in Chains With Tender Cover of ‘Would?’

Metallica delivered a cover of Alice in Chains’ “Would?” during a special livestream ceremony Tuesday night, December 1st, honoring the grunge pioneers, who received the Museum of Pop Culture’s Founders Award.

The entire stream is available to watch, and Metallica’s performance starts at the 2:07:48 mark. The performance was recorded remotely and boasts both a stirring vocal performance from James Hetfield and — despite being a primarily acoustic rendition — a ripping guitar solo from Kirk Hammett, just for good measure.

Following the performance, Hetfield congratulated Alice in Chains on receiving the Founders Award, saying: “We’re glad to be a part of your journey and life, and really cool to have gotten to know all of you guys and to tour with you guys, and play music with you guys. You are much appreciated and thank you for continuing on playing music, and offering some inspiration for the new musicians of the world.”

Along with Metallica, the lineup for the MoPOP Founders Award livestream featured Korn performing their own version of “Would?” Mastodon performing “Again,” Billy Corgan performing “Check My Brain,” and Alice in Chains performing two songs, “Sour Decision” and “No Excuses.” Other guests included Kim Thayil, Krist Novoselic, Lily Cornell Silver, Nancy Wilson, Ann Wilson, Shooter Jennings, Mark Lanegan, and Mike McCready.