James Hetfield wrote the original version of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” before it became a Black Album song.
Hetfield first developed the song while Metallica was on tour in 1990. The initial idea came from a guitar part he played while feeling homesick and missing someone close to him. He did not originally intend the piece for Metallica, because its personal and vulnerable subject matter differed from the band’s usual public image.
After drummer Lars Ulrich heard the idea, the band developed it for the album. The finished recording is credited to Hetfield and Ulrich for composition, while Hetfield is credited as lyricist. This is why questions about the song’s authorship can produce different answers depending on whether they ask who originated it or which members share the formal writing credit.
Kirk Hammett does not play the guitar solo on the studio recording; Hetfield performs it. The song became one of Metallica’s best-known power ballads and was released as the album’s third single in 1992.