In her new memoir, Christine Blasey Ford shares her love of Metallica.
In September 2018, Ford became a bit of a household name for news junkies across the country as she testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee ahead of the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Her testimony highlighted an alleged sexual assault by Kavanaugh at a party in the ’80s.
Nearly six years after testifying before Congress — and following Kavanaugh joining the Supreme Court — Ford has released her memoir, One Way Back, detailing the experience while also sharing personal moments throughout her life that helped shape that testimony.
Surprisingly, some of those moments include her love for Metallica and other rock legends.
When Metallica Wanted a Picture With Christine Blasey Ford
Not only does Ford reveal her love of Metallica in a few different stories, but she also describes her passion for surfing in One Way Back. And at one point in her life, those two worlds collided.
Before a Metallica concert in 2018, Ford participated in a charity auction and bid on a surfing session with Kirk Hammett. The starting bid she went with was $10,000; her husband quickly reminded her they did not have that much money to spend on a surfing session with Hammett.
She was sure she wouldn’t win.
“I wanted to get a T-shirt from the merch stand but felt too nervous to stand in line with people who might recognize me,” she wrote in One Way Back.
“I had been on every news outlet and in every newspaper just a month earlier, after all. Before the concert started, someone from Metallica’s team approached us and told us they could escort us backstage to meet the band. I nearly peed my pants.”
Ford described how terrified she was, even connecting the feeling she had with similar nerves during her testimony.
READ MORE: Is Metallica Christian? — We Explore the Often Searched Question on Metallica + Faith
“This was anxiety inducing in a way that no flight or testimony could ever be. Walking into the room of senators, I had known what I wanted to say. This time as we headed backstage, I had absolutely no clue.”
Ford said the guys in the band were kind and even asked to take a photo with her. She told them she placed a bid on the surfing session and everyone laughed as Hammett told her, “We can go anytime.”
Following that, Ford said the show — which was part of Metallica’s WorldWired Tour — was “fantastic,” and “I found myself actually dancing, singing, feeling euphoric.” It was one of the first times she felt that way after her testimony.
How a Guns N’ Roses Lyric Helped Christine Blasey Ford Following Her Testimony
Early on in One Way Back, Ford reveals her love of rock ‘n’ roll, calling herself a huge fan of bands such Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. She actually thanks some of these bands in the book’s acknowledgements because they create “the music that heals.”
She also admitted that Axl Rose helped her, in a way, following her testimony before Congress.
She explained how she had received letters from individuals across the globe showing their support for her while also sharing their own stories of abuse and assault.
“Many of the [letters] said that my testimony had helped validate the trauma they had experienced and had given them the courage to share their story — often for the first time.
“I kept hearing Axl Rose singing in ‘November Rain,’ ‘You’re not the only one.'”
guns n’ roses, axl rose, november rain video
Metallica’s Tour Plans for 2024
On May 24, Metallica kick off the second year of their M72 tour with their special No-Repeat Weekend in Munich, Germany. They’re also playing Helsinki, Finland, Copenhagen, Denmark, Warsaw, Poland, and Madrid, Spain, before heading back to North America.
The first No-Repeat Weekend in the United States is on Aug. 2 in Foxborough, Mass. Following those two shows, they’ll be in Chicago, Ill., Minneapolis, Minn., Edmonton, Canada, Seattle, Wash., and Mexico City, Mexico.
The M72 tour is in support of Metallica’s latest studio album, 72 Seasons.
You can see Metallica’s full tour plans for 2024 here.
Metallica: A Photo Timeline of Their Remarkable Career
A photo timeline of Metallica’s career.
Gallery Credit: Lauryn Schaffner
Metallica: The Week They Released ’72 Seasons’
There’s no question that Metallica’s new album, 72 Seasons, was already one of the world’s most anticipated releases of the year when it came out on April 14. Leading up to that release, Metallica only upped the anticipation with performances and appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Howard Stern Show and with their global listening party on Thursday, April 13. There was a lot more that happened to celebrate the release, too, so we put together some of our favorite moments of the 72 Seasons release week in the gallery below.
Gallery Credit: Chuck Armstrong
