Nothing else matters…

Goodbye, Sandman – because this is not a dream, it’s a dream come true.

The one, the only, evergreen heavy metal supergroup Metallica has just been confirmed to perform on Saturday, December 6 at the Yasalam After-Race Concerts, as part of the 2025 Etihad Airways Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend.

Images: Getty

In what looks certain to be arguably the biggest and most impactful live performance that Abu Dhabi and the UAE have seen in a long time, James Hetfield and Co. will unleash a rip-roaring set of some of their most electrifying hits. With a catalogue of multi-platinum studio albums, nine Grammy awards, 125 million albums sold globally, over 17 billion streams worldwide, and an induction in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the legendary band needs no introduction, no matter what genre you gravitate towards.

While Metallica is known for iconic singles like Enter Sandman, Nothing Else Matters, Master of Puppets, I Disappear, Fade to Black and many others, theirs is a legacy with origins in the City of Angels, and one that’s gained unstoppable momentum over four hit-soaked decades of no-holds-barred growls, riffs and beats that have been etched in music history.

If you hold a ticket to the 2025 Etihad Airways Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, get ready for what will undoubtedly be the show of a lifetime.

Over the past two weeks, it was announced that pop superstar Katy Perry, and Benson Boone of TikTok fame would perform during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend in December.

While many of the band’s army of fans might’ve believed that experiencing a Metallica show live would be a “day that never comes”, this announcement changes all that and more.

Abu Dhabi continues to raise the bar as a regional leader in live experiences, with the most recent of its historic achievements being January’s glittering series of Coldplay shows following weeks and months of announcement-induced mayhem. Last December’s Grand Prix weekend included a highly-anticipated concert by rap legend Eminem which took Etihad Park by storm, and how.

Fasten your seatbelts and stay tuned to whatson.ae for all the updates in the lead-up to a blockbuster weekend of on-track and on-stage entertainment.

Metallica Live, Etihad Park, Saturday December 6, 2025, tickets at abudhabigp.com