Metallica has been named to the California Hall of Fame’s 20th class. Governor Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom unveiled the class on Nov. 12, 2026, and the band confirmed the honor the next day, writing that it has called California home for its entire career. The formal enshrinement is set for December at the California Museum in Sacramento. An exact ceremony date has not been announced, and the band has not said whether members will attend or perform.
Newsom and Siebel Newsom described this as the final California Hall of Fame class they will induct. The Hall launched in 2006, and inductees are selected each year by the governor and first partner for work across arts, business, entertainment, food and wine, literature, music, public service, science and sports. Anne Marie Petrie, chair of the California Museum’s board of trustees, noted that the museum has been home to the Hall for those 20 years.
Why Metallica is in the California Hall of Fame
The governor’s announcement calls Metallica “a defining force in modern rock” and credits the band with 125 million albums sold worldwide and more than 17 billion streams. It also notes the group’s 2009 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and that after a 2013 performance in Antarctica, Metallica became the first band to play on all seven continents.
Those are the state’s own reasons for the California Hall of Fame nod, not a new career summary from the band. Metallica’s statement kept the focus on the honor itself and on California as home. “Metallica has called California our home for our entire career, and today, we are honored to share that we will be inducted into the 20th class of the state’s Hall of Fame,” the band wrote on Metallica.com. The governor’s office did not add an exact ceremony date, a guest list or a performance lineup.
Newsom, in the same release, said the class “reflects the very best of California and what’s possible when people have the courage to think big and make a difference.” Siebel Newsom added that the 20th class “honors both those who continue to lead and inspire us today and those we have lost, whose legacies live on through the lasting impact they made.” That language is about the class as a whole, not a claim about who will be in the room in December.
Who else is in the 20th class
The California Hall of Fame class is large, and it is not only a music list. Other honorees named in the governor’s release include Robin Williams, Barry Bonds, Huey Lewis, Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, Nancy Pelosi, Guillermo del Toro, Shepard Fairey and Rob and Michele Reiner, among others. Metallica.com posted the same list of fellow inductees when it confirmed the news. Several of those names are being honored posthumously; the release itself flags that the class includes both living honorees and people whose work is being recognized after their deaths.
December’s ceremony at the California Museum will formally enshrine the class. Until a date and program are published, that’s all that is confirmed: the 20th California Hall of Fame class has been named, Metallica is in it, and the enshrinement is in Sacramento this December.
The California Hall of Fame honor does not come with a new album or tour announcement. For San Diego, the next chance to see the band in town is already on the books. Metallica play Snapdragon Stadium on May 13, 2027, on the M72 World Tour, after the Sphere residency wraps in March. If you want more Metallica coverage in the meantime, we have a look at the Kill ‘Em All tribute No Life ‘Til Leather and the story of Turnstile turning down a Metallica tour offer.
