Gojira Frontman: A “Shame” Metallica Haven’t Headlined Super Bowl Halftime Show

Joe Duplantier hopes Gojira’s Olympics appearance will lead to more metal bands getting the spotlight

Gojira’s instantly legendary performance during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics this past summer beamed heavy metal into households around the world, hopefully paving the way for other major events to spotlight metal bands.

Frontman Joe Duplantier was recently asked on Full Metal Jackie’s radio show (as transcribed by Loudwire) about the potential for such a phenomenon happening at the Super Bowl or the Grammys. At first, Duplantier reached for the full-tilt extreme: “I’d love to see Meshuggah at the Super Bowl.”

While Meshuggah might be a pipe dream for such a mainstream event, Duplantier quickly pivoted to a very realistic option: the biggest metal band on the planet, aka the mighty Metallica.

In fact, Duplantier went as far as to suggest that Metallica should have already headlined a Super Bowl halftime show, given their overwhelming influence across the globe.

“I think Metallica belongs in the Halftime performance of the Super Bowl,” Duplantier said. “It’s a shame that they were never invited. That would make sense. I hope we will get to see that. Playing ‘Master of Puppets’ and ‘Enter Sandman.’ Imagine that!”

He continued, making a valid point that the thrash legends are already a mainstay in the sports community: “Metallica is known in the sports world. A lot of pitchers walk to the mound with ‘Enter Sandman’ or at football games I hear a lot, their music is very present. They just deserve to do the halftime. It would be a total success.”

Duplantier added he hopes Gojira’s Olympics appearance will inspire the NFL to follow suit.

“People are watching the Olympics,” he said. “The organizers, they’re all dedicated people, professionals. I’m sure they keep their ear to the ground and want to make sure to not miss anything. And hopefully it’ll give ideas to the Super Bowl people.”

Currently, Kendrick Lamar is booked as the headliner for the Super Bowl LIX halftime show on February 9th, but there’s always 2026. After all, Metallica are in midst of heavy touring and activity on the festival circuit throughout next year (get tickets here), so a slot at Super Bowl LX at Metallica’s hometown venue Levi’s Stadium (where the San Francisco 49ers play) would be an incredible way to cap the 72 Seasons album cyc

As it stands, Metallica played a massive stadium show at AT&T Park in San Francisco the night before Super Bowl 50 in February 2016, with the concert billed as “too heavy for halftime.” The Super Bowl took place at Levi’s Stadium, with Coldplay getting the nod to perform at halftime over the local metal icons.

Meanwhile, Heavy Consequence recently caught up with Joe Duplantier’s brother, Gojira drummer Mario Duplantier, who also discussed the band’s historic Olympics performance. Watch that interview below.