Went ahead, hearing heavy metal (3)
I believe the answer is:
led
'went ahead' is the definition.
(led the way)
'hearing heavy metal' is the wordplay.
'hearing' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'heavy metal' becomes 'lead' (lead is a heavy metal).
'lead' sounds like 'LED'.
(Other definitions for led that I've seen before include "showed the way ahead" , "Went ahead" , "Took by the hand and showed the way" , "Paved the way" , "Shown the way" .)