As recently reported, a woman named Joice M. Figueiró gave birth to a baby boy at a Metallica show in Curitiba, Brazil, this past Saturday (May 7th). Now, the new mom has an even more legendary story to tell her son Luan when he grows up, as she and her husband received a congratulatory call from Metallica frontman James Hetfield.
Joice, a tattoo artist, attended the Metallica show while 39 weeks pregnant. She sat in the accessible seating section of the stadium, where she went into labor as Metallica started to perform “Enter Sandman.” With not enough time to get her to the hospital, she ended up giving birth at the venue’s outpatient clinic.
Now, Joice has shared a clip of herself and her husband, Jaime, answering a phone call from Hetfield. The video only shows the first few seconds of the seven-minute conversation, in which we hear the metal legend say, “Yes, this is James from Metallica. Congratulations, you guys!”
An emotional Joice responds, “Oh my God, I cry!”
In an interview with The Washington Post, Joice shared more of her story, saying, “It was a mix of emotions. Since it wasn’t planned, I was scared that the medical team wouldn’t be ready. But there’s also the feeling of being able to tell people that this happened because Metallica is one of the bands we love the most.”
She added, “I joked that his name would be James Ulrich [combining the names of Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich]. But really, since this name question has brought up great appeal and we haven’t registered him, we’re thinking of maybe adding a [middle] name and putting some homage in there.”
When the reporter suggested “Sandman” as a middle name, Joice laughingly replied, “Remember, this is the name he’ll carry throughout his whole life. He’ll get bullied with the name ‘Sandman.’ He already has enough of a story to tell.”
Metallica’s South American tour ends tonight (May 12th) in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The band will then play the BottleRock Napa and Boston Calling festivals in late May, before heading to Europe for a tour in June. They’ll return to the States for a gig at Lollapalooza in Chicago on July 28th, followed by headlining shows in Buffalo, New York, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in August. Pick up tickets to Metallica’s upcoming concerts via Ticketmaster.
Watch Joice and her husband Jaime receive the congratulatory call from James Hetfield in the clip below.