Which Metallica song features guest vocals from Marianne Faithfull?

The story behind the answer

Metallica's song "The Memory Remains" features guest vocals from Marianne Faithfull. Her distinctive backing vocals appear throughout the track, adding an eerie, worn quality that suits the song's story of a once-famous performer losing her status and sanity.

Written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, "The Memory Remains" was the lead single from Metallica's seventh studio album, Reload, released in 1997. Faithfull was chosen because Hetfield felt her voice matched the song's gloomy, Sunset Boulevard-inspired atmosphere. The track's closing spoken line, “Say yes, at least say hello,” references The Misfits, the last completed film starring Marilyn Monroe.

The song is sometimes confused with other major Metallica singles such as "Nothing Else Matters" or "The Unforgiven," but neither features Faithfull. She also performed the song with Metallica on Saturday Night Live in 1997 and later joined the band onstage for its 30th-anniversary concerts in San Francisco in 2011.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

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