"Fade to Black" is a song and the first power ballad by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released as the first promotional single from their second studio album, Ride the Lightning (1984).

[5] In an interview on the set of the production MTV Icon: Metallica in 2003, drummer Lars Ulrich recalls how he and vocalist/rhythm guitarist James Hetfield were "obsessed with death" at the time the album and song were produced.

His previous band, Flotsam and Jetsam, performed a song called "Fade to Black" on their 1986 album Doomsday for the Deceiver before he left to join Metallica.

While on the Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour on August 8, 1992, Hetfield accidentally stepped into the path of one of the chemical flames that had been rigged to shoot from the lip of the stage while playing "Fade to Black".

Hetfield's 12/6 double-neck horizon guitar protected him from the full force of the blast; however, the fire engulfed most of his left side, burning his hand, both arms, eyebrows, face and hair.