Can 18,000 Petition Signers Get Music Fest to Boot Metallica? (And Just Wait 'Til You Catch Wind of Their Beef)

More than 18,000 have reportedly signed an online petition to remove hard rockers Metallica from a prestigious music festival.

Why?

Because frontman James Hetfield is an unapologetic hunter, the Telegraph reported.

Image source: YouTube

There have been reports of a Facebook page with more than 27,000 likes aiming for the same outcome in regard to the legendary band's scheduled appearance at the Glastonbury music festival in England — but multiple searches for such a page, as well as links to it, don't appear active.

However it appears the outcry erupted after Hetfield agreed to narrate an eight-episode series for History called "The Hunt," which documents a twice-yearly Kodiak brown bear hunt in Alaska. The premiere episode reportedly aired Sunday.

Beyond that Hetfield's love of hunting and the outdoors is well documented. He reportedly noted that he missed his son’s birthday while hunting bears in Russia, is a member of the NRA, and has described himself as “pretty conservative on a lot of things,” The Daily Caller noted.

Metallica frontman James Hetfield performs during a concert in Asuncion, Paraguay, Monday, March 24, 2014. (Image source: AP/Jorge Saenz)

“I love nature,” he told Rolling Stone in 1993. “I love the wilderness, and there is not much more of it left. It makes me hate people. Animals, they don’t lie to each other. There is an innocence within them. And they’re getting f***ed.”

Many hunters consider themselves proud conservationists, with groups like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation working to preserve and maintain habitats for game animals throughout the country.

More from the Daily Caller:

Glastonbury emerged from the free festival movement in the ’70s and is still associated with many aspects of progressive, hippie culture. Metallica is the first metal band booked to headline the festival, a controversial move by festival organizers — Hetfield’s hunting hobby aside.

“We’re fairly thick-skinned,” Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich told Spin. "Glastonbury is like the Holy Grail in England, and we’re respectful to that. But if somebody sits there and talks about petitions or what some other guy says, there’s a point that it just becomes ridiculous.”

Here's Ulrich on video over the whole uproar, so to speak:

This story has been updated.