Marianne Faithfull was brought in as James Hetfield felt her "weathered, smellin'-the-cigarettes-on-the-CD voice" fit what he described as "the whole eeriness of the Sunset Boulevard-feel of the song", given the lyrics tell the story of a faded artist who goes insane from losing her fame.
The spoken words "Say yes, at least say hello", during the outro, are a reference to The Misfits, the last complete movie in which Marilyn Monroe starred.
The band, with Marianne Faithfull, performed the song on the December 6, 1997 edition of Saturday Night Live.
The music video was shot at the Van Nuys Airport and cost $400,000, with the large platform costing over $100,000.
Asked if he would have bought Reload, bassist Jason Newsted said, "Not if I heard 'The Memory Remains' first."