Hollywood heavyweight and known metalhead Jason Momoa recently put his musical ear to the test, appearing as the latest guest on the popular viral video series “Track Star*.”
The concept of the show is straightforward: a guest puts on headphones while the host plays a track, and the guest has to name the artist and song as quickly as possible. For Momoa, the playlist was tailored specifically to his heavy tastes, featuring a gauntlet of classic metal and alternative rock anthems.
Between rounds of guessing riffs, the actor opened up about his personal musical evolution. Surprisingly, his journey to the heavier side of the spectrum wasn’t immediate. Momoa revealed that he actually discovered the godfathers of heavy metal, Black Sabbath, via the thrash icons who followed them.
“I actually found Sabbath through Metallica,” Momoa explained during the episode. “I grew up with a single mother who raised [him] on Motown, so it was definitely all Motown and blues and jazz…”
He continued, detailing how skateboarding culture and the golden age of music television helped bridge the gap between genres for him.
“I found funk like Primus and Red Hot Chili Peppers and that kind of stuff through skateboarding and then Metallica; just like when you see MTV… seeing [the music video for] “One“, the first metal video — I think it was one of the first metal videos — it blew my mind. And then through Metallica [I discovered Black Sabbath].”
Momoa was tasked with identifying a solid list of genre-defining tracks during his segment. The songs featured in his challenge included:
- Black Sabbath – “Iron Man“
- Metallica – “For Whom the Bell Tolls“
- Rage Against the Machine – “Killing In the Name“
- Alice In Chains – “Rooster“
- Nine Inch Nails – “Closer“
- Tool – “Sober“
- Iron Maiden – “The Trooper“
- Korn – “Freak On a Leash“
- The Misfits – “Last Caress“
- Helmet – “Unsung“
While the interview began with standard energy, Momoa appeared to genuinely enjoy the trivia format by the end of the clip. Signing off, he engaged with the host directly, asking: “What’s the name of your show?” before promising, “One day, I’m going to watch it.”
