Metallica pay tribute to Phil Lynott in Dublin

Metallica have paid tribute to Phil Lynott on the second night of their M72 world tour performances in Dublin.

"There's a certain song we have to play, or we're not getting out of this town alive," announced James Hetfield.

The band teased the riff of 'And Justice for All' before launching into Thin Lizzy's 'Whiskey in the Jar'.

Metallica have been covering the song for nearly three decades. They officially recorded the track in 1998 for their covers album Garage, Inc. and debuted it live shortly after, keeping it in their orbit for nearly 30 years.

Since they arrived in Ireland, the band have stopped by the Thin Lizzy frontman's statue on Harry Street and his grave at St. Fintan's Cemetery in Sutton.

 

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Lynott died in 1986 at the age of 36, and Hetfield paid tribute to him in a 2011 interview with Hot Press.

"It was one of those moments that was so sad," he said.

"You just wondered, 'Why did God take such a creative person?'. But I think there was a purpose to it all, because the struggles that he wrote about, with drugs, drink, ethnicity, all of those things, they almost speak louder now that he has passed."

"Just going back and listening to his lyrics, it's like, 'Wow, I know what he's talking about now'. I love that."

Read the full review of Metallica's Sunday performance here.