Turns out, we have the Rolling Stones to thank for Metallica finding their way.

Lars Ulrich recently revealed that the Rolling Stones played a huge role in saving Metallica from a near-split in the early ’00s.

The tension between the band members was portrayed in the film Some Kind of Monster, which showed bassist Jason Newsted leaving, frontman James Hetfield’s alcohol issues and the breakdown of the relationship between Hetfield and Ulrich.

“[W]e disappeared then for about a year,” Ulrich told the Sun in a new interview. “And then the Rolling Stones called us up and said, ‘Come and play some shows with us in ­California,’ and we sort of agreed, you’re not going to say no to the Stones, so that was it. It gave us the way to start it back up again. Whether you’re a team in an office or a bunch of dudes in a rock and roll band, at some point people have to figure out how to get along and work as a team.”

Read the full story on Ultimate Classic Rock.