Metallica praises use of 'Master of Puppets' in 'Stranger Things' as song regains traction
MANILA, Philippines — Netflix's "Stranger Things" really has a way with reviving music as Metallica's "Master of Puppets," used in the Season 4 finale, is seeing a resurgence among listeners.
The ninth episode of the hit show's fourth season sees Joseph Quinn's Eddie Munson perform "Master of Puppets" while in the mysterious Upside Down in an attempt to distract supernatural bats, and the performance was as metal as any fan could ask for.
Billboard's data collector Luminate said streaming plays for the 1986 classic went up by 650.3%, from 1,020,333 on-demand audio and video streams to a whopping 7,655,536 a week after the finale was dropped.
Even digital track sales for "Master of Puppets" saw a humungous increase as it went up 999% during the week of July 1 to 6. Netflix dropped Episode 9 titled "The Piggyback" on the first day of July.
Boosts on the radio were smaller, with only a 25.5% increase in radio plays while audience impressions went up by 14.7%.
Metallica welcomes the hype
Soon after "The Piggyback" was available for streaming, Metallica took to Instagram to praise showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer about how they incorporated music into "Stranger Things," particularly for the pivotal moment involving "Master of Puppets."
"We were all stoked to see the final result and when we did we were totally blown away... it's so extremely well done," the band wrote, even commending fans who recognized the song from early trailer cuts just by seeing Quinn's hand movements.
"It's an incredible honor to be such a big part of Eddie's journey and to once again be keeping company with all of the other amazing artists featured in the show," Metallica added.
@metallica #duet with @netflix Eddie, this is for you! #StrangerThings #StrangerThings4 #MasterOfPuppets #EddieMunson #Netflix ? original sound - Netflix
Tye Trujillo, son of Metallica's bassist Robert Trujillo, performed "additional guitar tracks" shown during Eddie's insane performance.
The band joined in on the fun by posting a TikTok duet video where members, donning Hellfire Club shirts from the show, performed "Master of Puppets" beside the aforementioned scene from "The Piggyback" episode.
"Eddie, this is for you!" the video's caption read which has over 5.5 million views. A TikTok video of the band's own performance of "Master of Puppets" preceded it and has more than 11 million plays.
"Stranger Things" Season 4 was also instrumental in popularizing singer Kate Bush and her song "Running Up That Hill" which was extensively used throughout the season. It reappeared on global music and streaming charts nearly 40 years after it was released in 1985.
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