Credit: Ross HalfinTelevision personality Mike Rowe committed a hard-rock faux pas when he met Metallica frontman James Hetfield recently. When Hetfield began talking to Rowe at a California restaurant over the weekend, Dirty Jobs confused the vocalist for his band mate, drummer Lars Ulrich.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Rowe writes that Hetfield approached him while he was eating outside to tell him that he enjoyed his shows. Rowe asked the musician what he did, to which he said, “I play in a local band.” When he then asked the name of his band, Hetfield replied “Metallica.”
“Oh my God. Of course,” Rowe said. “You’re Lars Ulrich. Forgive me. I heard you lived around here. What a pleasure to meet you.”
“Actually, my name is James,” the singer, who was with his niece, replied. “James Hetfield.”
“I…wish to apologize — not just for failing to recognize you — but for not recognizing you in front of your charming niece,” Rowe now writes. “It must have been very strange for her to watch her uncle — one of the greatest singers in the history of rock and roll — introduce himself to a guy with…no idea who he was.”
Concludes Rowe, “Anyway, thanks James, for saying hello, and for writing songs that used to make my workouts fly by.”
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