Covering their song might be an excellent way of appreciating another act, but it also has financial perks. For instance, Diamond Head’s Brian Tatler discussed how Metallica covering their songs helped him financially for years and years to come while chatting with Denim and Blether.
Metallica has been covering Diamond Head tracks ever since the beginning of its career, and this particular homage helped generate commerciality and financial profits for the members of Diamond Head. While discussing Metallica, Brian explained how he felt seeing the cult metal act covering their tracks.
“Well, it’s been going on for a long time,” said Brian as he discussed Metallica’s covers. “At first, back in 1984, I didn’t think it was going to be such a big deal because they were on a small label called Music For Nations. And they’d only been over to the U.K. to play the Marquee and things like that.”
He continued, “To me, they were still Lars’s band. I knew Lars, but I’d never met the others. And they covered ‘Am I Evil?’, and we just thought it was very, very flattering; they’d done a great job. But I didn’t expect them to become the biggest metal band of all time.
He disclosed the financial perks of the entire situation. Brian admitted, “And the income that sales of that song on their record would generate, I had no idea that it would help provide me with income for years and years to come. So it’s been an incredible bonus, if you like, for Diamond Head, and especially for myself and Sean Harris as the writers.”
Metallica’s covers flattered Diamond Head and helped the band financially by bringing more commerciality and financial revenue to the band’s streams. Brian and vocalist Sean, especially, seem to have made a significant profit.
