The world got a little smaller last week when Joseph Quinn, who plays metalhead Eddie Munson on Stranger Things, met Eddie’s idols, Metallica, at Chicago’s Lollapalooza fest.
On the Netflix show’s most recent season, Quinn’s character jams out on Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” in a key scene and, as with the recent renaissance of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” the placement had a huge effect, bringing Metallica’s track back to the Billboard charts for the first time since 1986, and into the Top 40, no less.
Quinn enjoyed a pre-show hang at the festival with Lars, James, Kirk, and Robert, where they chatted about the use of their song in the show. James shared the fact that watching the show with his kids has been a bonding experience for him and his family, and expressed his gratitude for Quinn and Stranger Things doing right by the song.
Quinn let the metal titans know that he spent two years living with the tune in order to get his part right on the show, even though the solo in the song is played by Robert Trujillo’s son Tye. Inevitably, the guitars and drums came out, and the actor ended up playing the beginning of “Master Puppets” right alongside its originators, earning further respect from the band in the process.
As if that experience weren’t enough for Quinn, he got his mind blown just a bit further when the band gifted him with a guitar. The actor’s elation is palpable in the video above, when they offer to sign the instrument for him.
To bring things full circle, when Metallica played the song in their set on the Lollapalooza stage that night, there was Eddie Munson on the big screens above the stage, grinding “Master of Puppets” out on guitar for all he was worth.