Red Rocker Sammy Hagar says Metallica owe him $200 after he correctly predicted they were about to hit the big time.
Hagar was fronting Van Halen on the 1988 Monsters of Rock tour, which also featured Metallica who were performing just months before they released fourth album ...And Justice for All.
Watching as Metallica "crushed it every night", Hagar knew they were about to explode. It seems the thrash icons weren't yet so sure themselves, as they all took Hagar up on his $100 bet that their next record would go platinum.
Sure enough, ...And Justice for All was certified platinum just nine weeks after its release in September 1988.
In an Instagram post, Hagar shares a photo from the Monsters of Rock press conference and jokes that he's still owed $100 by Metallica frontman James Hetfield and Jason Newsted, who was their bass player at the time.
Hagar says: "Metallica hadn't broke yet with Enter Sandman, but they crushed it every night, put a big hurt on Dokken, who had to follow them, ouch!
"I bet the members of Metallica $100 each that at the end of this tour their next record would go platinum. So far Lars and Kirk are the only ones that paid up. Ha ha."
A Classic Rock article called Monsters Of Rock US 1988: The Making Of Metallica describes how Metallica, who were low down the bill, quickly caught the imagination of festival goers.
It reads: As Metallica’s reputation quickly escalated, so the crowds came earlier and earlier, until very soon there were 40-50,000 people inside at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, ready to hear them lay sonic waste to whoever was in the way."
