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Lars Ulrich
Besides being one of Metallica's founding members and main
songwriters, drummer Lars Ulrich is also the band's spokesman. Born
on December 26, 1963, in Gentofte, Denmark, Ulrich's father (Torbin
Ulrich) was a nationally renowned tennis player, and it appeared as
though Lars would follow in his father's footsteps, as the young
Ulrich practiced hard on tennis skills. In 1973, his father took
Lars to his first rock concert, to see the mighty Deep Purple in
Copenhagen, which opened the youngster's eyes to hard rock and heavy
metal. After he decided that the tennis life wasn't for him after
all, Ulrich shifted his focus on music (namely the New Wave of
British Heavy Metal movement: Iron Maiden, Saxon, Diamond Head,
Motorhead, Def Leppard, etc.), and took up the drums. |
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His family relocated to California in the early '80s, as Lars
promptly put an ad in the local music paper looking for other
similarly minded musicians looking to start up a band (even though
the NWOBHM had yet
to make an impression stateside).
One of the first replies he received was
from guitarist James Hetfield, as the pair agreed that
they should form a band that was a reaction against the glam metal
that had infiltrated Los Angeles at the time. Soon after, Metallica
was officially born.
Several other bandmembers came and went,
until a lineup consisting of bassist Cliff Burton, lead guitarist
Dave Mustaine, plus Ulrich and Hetfield (the latter also doubling on
vocals by this time) moved to San Francisco, building up a solid fan
base due to their shows and a heavily circulated demo tape, No Life
'Til Leather. Metallica was offered a record contract with the
independent label Megaforce if they agreed to move to New York,
which they did, replacing Mustaine with Kirk Hammett in the process.
Over the course of three releases, 1983's Kill 'Em All, 1984's Ride
the Lightning (which was the group's first to be issued by a major
label, Elektra), and 1986's Master of Puppets, Metallica became one
of heavy metal's most promising new bands, until Burton's tragic
death nearly derailed the group. With massive success just around
the corner, the remaining members decided to carry on with
replacement member Jason Newsted, resulting in such blockbuster
releases as 1988's And Justice for All and 1991's self-titled
release, which established the group as one of the biggest rock
bands on the planet. The '90s saw more sold-out stadium tours and
further hit albums (1996's Load, 1997's Reload, etc.), before
Newsted exited the band in early 2001.
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