Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” peaked at number six on the United Kingdom Singles Chart.
The song was released as the third single from The Black Album on April 20, 1992. It became one of the band’s most widely recognized recordings, despite being a personal and unusually vulnerable composition by Metallica’s standards.
James Hetfield wrote the song in 1990 while on tour and initially did not intend it for Metallica. After Lars Ulrich heard it, the band considered adding it to the album. Its opening arpeggio and orchestral arrangement helped make it a power ballad rather than a conventional thrash-metal track.
Kirk Hammett does not play on the studio recording, making the song unusual within Metallica’s catalog. Hetfield played the guitar solo, and Michael Kamen wrote the orchestral arrangement. The song also reached number one in Denmark and number 11 on Billboard’s Album Rock Tracks chart.