Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals,
and aggressive musicianship placed them as one of the founding "big four" of thrash metal alongside Slayer, Megadeth,
and Anthrax.
Metallica was formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich
had posted in a local newspaper.
Metallica ranks as one of the most commercially successful bands of all time, having sold over 110 million records worldwide.
They have won nine Grammy Awards, and had five consecutive albums debut at number one on the Billboard 200,
making Metallica the first band to do so.
-Wikipedia
From:
Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres:
Heavy metal, thrash metal, speed metal
Years active:
1981-present
Name Origin
Lars Ulrich was consulted by his friend Ron to help him name a fanzine he was planning. Possible names suggested
by Ron were Metal Mania and Metallica. Lars liked Metallica, but convinced Ron to call his magazine Metal Mania,
in order to keep Metallica for himself.
Members:
James Hetfield -
lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1981-present)
Lars Ulrich -
drums, percussion (1981-present)
Kirk Hammett -
lead guitar, backing vocals (1983-present)
Robert Trujillo -
bass guitar, backing vocals (2003-present)
Past Members:
Ron McGovney - bass guitar (1982)
Dave Mustaine - lead guitar, backing vocals (1982-1983)
Cliff Burton - bass guitar, backing vocals (1982-1986; died 1986)
Jason Newsted - bass guitar, backing vocals (1986-2001
Got Their start:
building a healthy local following in the Bay Area Thrash Scene via word-of-mouth and live performances
Metallica Trivia:
• Lars Ulrich is a former tennis prodigy
• Former lead guitarist Dave Mustaine went on to found
Megadeth
• They were the first band to play all 7 continents in a year,
making it into 2015 Guinness World Records
after their Antarctica performance.
Metallica Quotes:
"We don't plan concepts. We didn't write RIDE THE LIGHTNING about death, or MASTER OF PUPPETS about manipulation. That just happens."
James
On AIDS
"This shit (AIDS) scares me. You know, one time and you're dead! Touring is the dangerous part. A lot of bands are going to be in trouble the way they carry on. I mean, we've been pretty bad, but on the last tour, no way! It was kinda, 'Screw that!' Some of the roadies are pretty sick, as far as wearing rubbers or whatever. I don't know. I've never done that before...ha ha ha...and that's only MAYBE safe. It's very unhappening, this whole thing."
James
"You can pick up a very shitty song to cover. I mean, the Foo Fighters doing 'Baker Street'? I don't get that at all. It does take me back to high school, I guess, or at least to a song that I completely @#$%& hated. So you have to be careful."
James
"Call it anarchy or whatever you want to--there's times when you wanna be able to do whatever the @#$%& you want and, y'know, life's always short, so why shouldn't you?"
James
"Back then (in highschool) you'd look under the music section of The Recycler for heavy metal, and there's like two people. The same people every f*ckin week into 'sex and Motorhead.'"
James
"(On first jam with Lars) He had a @#$%& up, hella f*ckin cheap Gemco kit or whatever. We told him, 'Yeah, we'll give you a call,' and we never even called him back!"
James
"I remember the first time we ever got an encore. It was a Monday night at two in the morning at the Troubadour and there was about ten people there but they were clapping and we came back for the encore. We were deciding on what song we were going to play and Lars starts up a different song! He just decided he wanted to play. And we hadn't practiced that song for like three months. I had forgot all the lyrics, but I went through the motions. And after the gig, I just turned right around and punched him out onstage! "You @#$%&!" I shouted. Got him in the gut. And people were going 'huh?'"
James
"We've always known that there's been a need or a want for a band like us. We've fought back and broken through all the bullshit of the business, and now it's great to be able to say 'F*ck off' to the whole business, and 'We did it our way' and blah blah blah. We've always had our own way of doing things..."
Lars
"We've stuck to our own beliefs, we haven't cheated anyone, and we've done what we wanted."
Lars
"We're no different from them (fans). We see the world like other people. We don't live in mansions, and we're not hiding behind fences and making our own pretentious fantasy world with chicks and mountains of drugs. We live in the real world, and the real world's an ugly place."
Lars
"Metallica likes to live on the edge, but you can only push it so far."
Lars
"A women should be able to make her own decisions whether or not she should have a baby. She should have control over her body, not the @#$%& government, congressman, or whatever."
Kirk
"In Denmark while recording Master Of Puppets, we hung out a lot. We'd go out and play poker for 8 hours straight after being up for 24 hours. We'd find a seafood restaurant that was open, eat raw oysters and drink beer, scream at the natives while we were drunk....that's some of my best memories of him."
Kirk
"One thing that constantly pisses me off is what's happening with the environment nowadays. I'm an environmentalist, though I think I probably create more than my share of noise pollution every time we play."
Kirk
"It's getting more comfortable for me to offer up ideas to Metallica. James Hetfield especially is really a genius when it comes to writing. It really amazes me sometimes. He can come up with the heaviest, chunking riffs, and then turn around and do something so pretty it makes you tingle. These guys are all the upper sect of classy musicians."
Jason
"I eat two hours before we go on and practice for a half hour. I've been walking out in the crowds. I put on my incognito disguise and check out the scene. It's cool to do that, soak up the vibe of the kids. A few recognized me, so I gave 'em passes."
Jason
"It's cool, having the control, the last word. It's very comfortable. We've always watched ourselves as far as keeping in shape. We base our whole day around the shows 'cause we want it to be as good as possible."
Jason
"We're getting a good draw, it's a @#$%& hell of a lot of fun. It is painful at first, our necks and lower backs really hurt. But asprin is a great drug."
Cliff
Metallica Awards
1988
Billboard Music Award for Top Music Videocassette of the Year (Cliff 'Em All).
1989
Billboard Music Award for Top Music Videocassette of the Year ($19.98 Home Vid Cliff'em All!).
1990
Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ("One").
1991
Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ("Stone Cold Crazy").
1992
Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance with Vocal (Metallica)
MTV Video Music Award for Best Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Video
1993
American Music Award for Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist
1996
MTV Video Music Award for Best Hard Rock Video ("Until It Sleeps")
1997
American Music
Award for Favorite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist.
Rolling Stone Magazines Best Hard Rock Band of the
Year
Hungarian Music Award (Golden Giraffe) for Rock Album "Load"
1999
Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ("Better Than You")
California Music Award for Outstanding Hard Rock Album (Reload)
Billboard Music Awards for Catalog Artist of the Year and Catalog Album of the Year (Metallica).
2000
Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance ("Whiskey In The Jar").
California Music Award for Outstanding Drummer (Ulrich)
2001
Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "The Call Of The Ktulu"
2003
MTV's mtvICON award
2004
Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ("St. Anger").
2008
Grammy Award for Metal Performance: My Apocalypse
Tour Dates: