James Hetfield Made a Bizarre ‘American Dad’ Appearance

When is Metallica's James Hetfield not Metallica's James Hetfield? When he's a water polo coach — who just happens to have Hetfield's name, face, tats and guitars — on the animated series American Dad.

The show's viewers were recently treated to the bizarre sight of an animated, water polo-coaching non-Hetfield during an episode entitled "The Life Aquatic With Steve Smith," which you can watch at the TBS website. Featuring a number of Metallica gags — including action sequences set to the strains of "Master of Puppets" and "All Nightmare Long" — it easily ranks as the oddest-ever cartoon cameo from a member of the band.

Hetfield's American Dad appearance isn't his first foray into animation — he (and guitarist Kirk Hammett) also contributed to Adult Swim's Metalocalypse, and the band members played themselves on an episode of The Simpsons. On the live-action front, Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich recently filmed a cameo for an upcoming episode of the Showtime series Billions.

In other Metallica-related news, the band has announced plans to offer a free livestream of their pre-Super Bowl concert on Feb. 6. The broadcast, which is streaming in full HD, will take place at San Francisco's AT&T Park — north of Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, where the game is happening the following day. "The concert has been sold out for months, but we don’t want anyone to be left out," the band told fans. "So spend Super Bowl eve with us, no matter where you are that night!"

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