Kirk Hammett says Metallica will play live until they are "into their 70s".
Metallica's Rob Trujillo and Kirk Hammett
The band's guitarist has promised fans the metal group will perform for as long as they are standing just like their musical peers The Rolling Stones as they still have the drive to get up on stage.
Speaking on 103.3 The Edge Radio, he said: "James, Lars and Rob still have things they want to do.
"We're all getting up there, but we still have drive, we still have energy, we're still inspired, we still have things that we wanna do. Mentally, emotionally - I think that we're not done yet.
"And if people like Keith Richards and Mick Jagger can do it into their 70s, why can't we? That's my attitude."
The 52-year-old rocker says he will keep performing and making music until he physically is unable to.
He continued: "And on a personal level, I'm a musician. I wanna continue to play and perform and do what I do, which is make music. I don't wanna stop doing this. I don't wanna stop making music. I will always be a working musician, until I can't be any more."
The 'Enter Sandman' hitmakers - also comprised of James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Rob Trujillo - are currently working on the follow up to 2008's 'Death Magnetic' LP.
Kirk admits their new music may not be out until 2017 but he hopes it will be sooner.
He explained: "We're hoping that the album will be released next year. I don't wanna say that we're a third into it, or two-thirds into it, or an eighth into it, because anything could happen that'll just change that number.
"But, eventually, you will see a new Metallica album, and it will most likely be in 2016, and at the very worst, at the beginning of 2017. It's pretty much more along the same lines as 'Death Magnetic' - kind of like that direction."
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