Metallica Force U.S. Government to Pull Drone Video Featuring Unauthorized Use of Classic Song

Metallica are famously selective (and litigious) when it comes to how their music is used in outside contexts. That’s why it’s not surprising that they recently forced the U.S. government to pull a video promoting its drone program due to it featuring unauthorized use of classic song “Enter Sandman.” However, it’s since been reuploaded without the track.

Details of the Video + Metallica’s Response

Yesterday (July 12), Rolling Stone reported that the Pentagon “deleted and reposted a video boasting about how President Donald Trump’s administration will increase its use of drone warfare. The first version featured the Metallica song ‘Enter Sandman’ in the background. The second has no music.” The magazine also specified that a Metallica representative “confirmed . . . that the use of ‘Enter Sandman’ in the original video was unauthorized.”

In addition, and as verified by The Independent, “a spokesperson for the Pentagon said in a statement on Friday: ‘This afternoon, representatives from X reached out to DoD [Department of Defense] regarding a video posted to our social media page and asked that the video be removed due to a copyright issue with the song ‘Enter Sandman’ by Metallica. The video has been taken down, corrected, and re-uploaded to our page.'”

In the video – which was originally posted to X (formerly Twitter) on July 10, according to The Independent – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth walks toward the camera while detailing how his department will go about enacting Trump’s executive order “unleashing American drone dominance.” He continues by mentioning that their plan involves “three key things”:

First, we’re gonna bolster the U.S. drone manufacturing base by producing thousands of American-made products . . . we’ll arm combat units with a variety of low-cost American-crafted drones, leveraging our world-leading engineers and AI experts . . . and third, we’re gonna train as we expect to fight. Senior officers . . . must overcome bureaucratic risk aversion in budgeting, weaponing, weaponeering and training.

He's standing on the front lawn of the Pentagon, and behind him, several soldiers stand as a quadcopter flies noisily above his head to deliver a memo.

You can see the original version of the video below:

As Rolling Stone also pointed out, “An instrumental version of ‘Enter Sandman’ played during the president’s recent lackluster military parade [on June 14, 2025], which outraged Metallica fans.”

Likewise, the publication explained that “parade organizers were even issued a cease-and-desist letter over ‘illegally’ playing ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,’ after they were explicitly told they could not use the song.” There’s even a Wikipedia page dedicated to keeping track of the dozens of musicians who’ve opposed Trump’s use of their music.

More About “Enter Sandman”

Released as the lead single to 1991’s Metallica (aka The Black Album), “Enter Sandman” is among the thrash quartet’s biggest songs. It’s one of their most divisive, too, given that it’s often seen as their first “pop” song and a significantly more commercial tune than anything they’d done before. According to singer/guitarist James Hetfield, the track revolves around nightmares involving “this kid [who] gets manipulated by what adults say,” and drummer Lars Ulrich once claimed that it was the “foundation to guide the whole Black Album.”

Interestingly, “Enter Sandman” was so successful that it led to Metallica writing another song – “King Nothing” from 1996’s Load – as an “answer” to it.

“‘King Nothing’ was kind of an answer to ‘Sandman,’ really,” Hetfield told Q Prime and MX2 Media earlier this year. He continued:

It was and obviously at the end of the song, there's a little bit of a “‘off to never, neverland,’ a little nod towards it. I think we were trying to keep up with the fact that 'Sandman' was a great song and people connected with it. So it at least made sense to write a song in that tempo, in that vein, that pound. . . . “King Nothing” makes sense in that it was one of the first ones right after 'The Black Album,' cause it was. It was an nod to 'Sandman.'"

So, now you know.

What Else is Happening With Metallica?

On July 5, Metallica were one of many major acts to perform at Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne’s legendary Back to the Beginning concert (which was held at Villa Park in Birmingham, England). They played six songs, including both original cuts (such as “Battery” and “Master of Puppets”) and covers of Black Sabbath’s “Hole in the Sky” and “Johnny Blade.”

They’re also gearing up to play numerous places toward the end of 2025 and into 2026 – including Germany, Poland, Australia and New Zealand – with their May and June 2026 dates featuring supporting sets from Gojira, Knocked Loose, Pantera and Avatar. You can view the full list of shows – and grab tickets – here.