Who wrote the orchestral arrangement for Metallica's song “Nothing Else Matters”?

Michael Kamen wrote the orchestral arrangement for Metallica's song “Nothing Else Matters.”

The song appears on Metallica's 1991 album and is notable for its expanded musical palette. Kamen created the orchestral arrangement, with the London Symphony Orchestra contributing to the recording. His work added strings and other orchestral color to a song that began as a personal acoustic-guitar composition by James Hetfield.

Hetfield wrote the initial song while Metallica was touring and he was feeling homesick. Although he originally did not intend it for the band, drummer Lars Ulrich heard it and encouraged its development. The finished recording became one of Metallica's best-known songs and was later released as the album's third single in 1992.

Kamen's connection with Metallica continued beyond the original album. He later arranged and conducted the orchestral performances for the band's 1999 live project S&M with the San Francisco Symphony. That later collaboration is sometimes mistaken for the original album arrangement, but Kamen was already responsible for the orchestral writing on “Nothing Else Matters” in 1991.