During an August 7 appearance on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”, METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo addressed the rumor that the band is in talks for a Sphere residency in Las Vegas in the fall of 2026 after the group’s scheduled “M72” world tour dates conclude with another European run next July. Asked how he feels about the potential for doing a residency at the Sphere and whether he has been to the venue already to check it out, Robert said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I haven’t actually been there and checked it out yet. I like that. It’s a mystery to me. Because everybody I know has, and they’re just, like, ‘Oh my God. This is incredible.’ And I love all that. I love the visual experience. We have talked about it, we’ve met, had meetings about it. And I’m already thinking, like, ‘Imagine this, imagine that,’ ’cause METALLICA‘s music is so visual. I mean, imagine a song like ‘Orion’ and what you can do with that. The possibilities are endless. So, for me, it’s like a dream come true.
“We’ll see what happens,” he continued. “I know we’re talking about it, and hopefully this is gonna happen. And the fact that [METALLICA drummer] Lars [Ulrich] talked about it on ‘[The] Howard Stern [Show]’ yesterday is a great thing. It means that it’s in the works.
“We’ve been going through so much lately,” Robert explained. “There’s been so much going on that sometimes you’ll have a meeting about that, and then all of a sudden something else happens, and then you’re in that mode, in this mode and whatnot. But it’s definitely something that we wanna do and we’re excited about, and we’ll just have to wait and see how and when and if we can do this… No heavy rock band has [played at the Sphere yet], and there’s a lot of history with our music and I think there’s potential for a lot of visual stimulation on this. And I can’t wait to be a part of it. So let’s see what happens.”
During an appearance on the August 6 episode of “The Howard Stern Show” to announce the launch of METALLICA‘s own SiriusXM channel, Lars was asked if there was any truth to the rumor that METALLICA is in talks for a Sphere residency in Las Vegas. Lars said: “I’m not going to confirm anything, because there’s nothing to confirm. But I’m not going to deny it, because we’re all such fans of this venue. All of our managers and our production people have been there and looked at it. It’s something that we’re considering, [but] nothing is etched in stone or green-lit. It’s something that we’re looking at at some point when the 2026 tour is done.”
Ulrich continued: “I was there seeing U2 the first night, when they took that stage, I wanted to see it for myself before I saw it on YouTube or read about it. I was there, like everybody else that was there that night, I was completely blown away, and felt that was the beginning of another chapter in live performances.
“I’m not going to bullshit you, I would fucking love to do it, let there be no question about it,” Lars added. “It’s not signed, sealed and delivered, but speaking to me and asking my opinion, I would fucking love to do it.”
Asked by host Howard Stern if METALLICA would be interested in performing during the halftime show at the 2026 Super Bowl, which will take place in the legendary heavy metal band’s longtime hometown of San Francisco,” Ulrich said: “Fuck yeah — of course we would. First of all, we would do it. Second of all, to do it in San Francisco would be a dream come true and would be the right fit. We haven’t been approached. … Certainly as somebody who’s represented San Francisco all over the world and shouted for decades about San Francisco and our love for the Bay Area, that part of it is the right fit. Ultimately it’s not our decision.”
This past April, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett was asked by The Hollywood Reporter if he and his bandmates would entertain the possibility of performing at the Las Vegas Sphere, the 17,600-capacity venue which has transformed live entertainment since opening in September 2023. He responded: “Oh, heck, yeah! That’s a great example of how venues are changing. That’s using modern technology to the fullest, to really up the levels of production and entertainment, connected to A.I. and making it a crazy experience.”
A massive, spherical venue known for its immersive entertainment experiences, including concerts and films, featuring a state-of-the-art 16K resolution wraparound screen and a powerful sound system, the Las Vegas Sphere is nestled near the Venetian Resort and Wynn Las Vegas just off the Las Vegas Strip.
The Sphere has already hosted residencies from a number of legendary rockers, including U2, PHISH, DEAD & COMPANY and THE EAGLES.
U2 opened the building with 160,000-square-foot LED screens and 4D features, playing to more 700,000 fans across 40 sold-out dates from September 2023 through March 2024. The shows commemorated one of U2‘s most successful albums, the chart-topping 1991 release “Achtung Baby”, played in its entirety, along with select tracks from other U2 LPs.
A global news event which saw the world’s biggest rock band open the world’s most state-of-the-art venue, “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere” quickly became a pop culture moment and a must-see for music lovers everywhere. The show’s stunning visuals and live music performance, combined with the venue’s immersive technology elements, including the world’s most advanced audio system, became an instant social media sensation as hundreds of thousands of fans shared their “U2:UV” experience across multiple platforms generating billions of impressions, making “U2:UV” a truly global phenomenon. One of the band’s most ambitious creative projects to date, it saw them work once again with longtime creative collaborator and show director Willie Williams, artists including Es Devlin, John Gerrard and Marco Brambilla, and longtime partner and producer Brian Eno.
The first sports event to take place was the NHL Draft with the UFC following in September 2024.
Sphere’s next-generation technologies include the world’s highest-resolution LED display that wraps up, over and around the audience, creating a fully immersive visual environment. The venue also features the world’s most advanced concert-grade audio system, Sphere Immersive Sound, powered by HOLOPLOT, which delivers audio with unmatched clarity and precision to every guest.
Last October, Sphere Entertainment, the company behind Sphere Las Vegas, announced plans for a new venue in Abu Dhabi.
