James Hetfield says the passion of Metallica fans makes it "easy" for him to keep doing his job as frontman of one of the biggest bands on the planet.
Asked what keeps him hungry to go out on stage night after night, Hetfield, 62, says it's the connection with Metallica's fans that is his inspiration.
In a new interview with CBS News Sunday Morning, scheduled to air at 9am on the CBS television network on Sunday, November 30, and streaming on Paramount+, Hetfield says: "I am so blessed. I have the best seat in the house. I got the best job in the world, if you even wanna call it a job.
"It's so easy. Just looking into one set of eyes, that's all it takes for me. I will hook up with one person's eyes and I'll just see them change. I'll see the passion in them, and I'm full. My heart fills right up and I'm ready to just keep going, kicking ass.
"I have the best job in the world. I get to see three generations of people hugging each other. Oh, God, the last thing I would've wanted to do is go to a gig with my dad, or my grandpa even.
"But I see that happening out there. And little kids down in the front, old people down the front, people in wheelchairs down the front. A mix match of backgrounds and stories of people.
"We gather a lot of misfits around this planet, and we make a family out of it. And we create some energy that helps us get through life."
The CBS interview will focus on Metallica's All Within My Hands foundation, which is a non-profit dedicated to creating sustainable communities by supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services.
Hetfield adds: "I found my passion early on in life. I'm super grateful for that. I had parents that were supportive. And I struggled. I struggled hard to get what I thought was what I needed, which was be in a band and make music.
"Struggle is part of it, and with this foundation, hopefully we're a little bit of a helping hand getting from that, 'I can't get out of this struggle. I just can't,' to the, 'I can, but I gotta work hard and I'm gonna be able to get what I want.'"
