Metallica star James Hetfield sweet gesture to late pal Cliff Burton

James Hetfield just paid homage to his late friend, Cliff Burton.

As the iconic band’s Australian tour continues The Enter Sandman hitmakers are currently in Melbourne to perform at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.

Ahead of the anticipated performance, in a sweet gesture to his friend, James headed to Melbourne's iconic AC/DC Lane, where a mural depicting the band's founding bass player was being completed.

On Metallica’s official Instagram page, the picture uploaded features James standing proudly next to the mural next to one of its creators.

The mural showed Cliff set against a lightning backdrop and the names of the artists – Maid (Liquid Pastels) and Ling written in Metallica's iconic font.

“Visiting an old friend in Melbourne,” James captioned the image, adding, “Fantastic mural.”

Cliff Burton was a founding member of Metallica and played on the band's first three studio albums – Kill 'Em All, Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets.

He was tragically killed in 1986 in a bus crash in Sweden while the band were on tour and was then replaced by Jason Newsted, who served until 2001 before being replaced by Robert Trujillo in 2003.

Metallica fans swamped the comments sections gushing over James Hetfield’s gesture and with many praising the artwork.

One fan commented: “Even after nearly 40 years, the members of Metallica are still commemorating a lost brother in the most beautiful way.”

“I truly respect them because they reminded us how important friendship is,” another wrote.