About the Band

Early Days

Metallica are a thrash metal band from Los Angeles California, formed in 1981. The band were founded after drummer Lars Ulrich posted an ad in a local newspaper which stated

"Drummer looking for other metal musicians to jam with Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and Iron Maiden."

 The advertisement was answered by guitarists James Hetfield and Hugh Tanner. Ultiametely James Hetfield was chosen to provide vocals and play rhythm guitar for a song he and Ulrich were to record for the upcoming compilation album Metal Massacre. Lead guitarist Dave Mustaine was added to the lineup in early 1982 after a second ad in the same local newspaper was posted by Ulrich.

First Recording and Live Shows

Metallica went on to record their first song "Hit the lights", in which Hetfield played bass as a bassist had not been found yet. The song was released on the 14 June 1982 on the afore mentioned album Metal Massacre. Metallica managed to create enough buzz with the song and the band played their first live show on the 14th March 1982 with their newly recruited bassist Ron McGovney.

Addition of Cliff Burton

In the fall of 1982 Hetfield and Ulrich attended a show at the West Hollywood nightclub Whiskey a Go Go which featured Cliff Burton in a band called Trauma. Hetfield and Ulrich were impressed with his ability and asked him to join Metallica. At first he declined but by the end of the year he left Trauma to join up with Metallica. He had left Trauma because he felt that they were "starting to get a little commercial". That meant current bassist Ron McGovney was kicked out. Hetfield and Mustaine had thought that "He didn't contribute anything he just followed.

Addition of Kirk Hammett

Dave Mustaine was kicked out of Metallica due to drug and alcohol abuse and violent behaviour. Kirk Hammett (formely of the band Exodus) flew in the same afternoon to replace him. Hammett's first show with Metallica was on April 16 1983 in Dover, New Jersey

Cliff Burtons Death

On September 27th 1986, while touring in Sweden, the band decided to draw cards to decide sleeping arrangements in the tour bus. Cliff won and decided to take Kirk's bunk. While the band were asleep, the bus driver lost control and skidded. The bus had flipped violently several times. Lars, Kirk and James sustained no serious injuries, however, Cliff was left pinned under the bus. He subsequently died of his injuries. The bands future was in doubt but they decided that Cliff would object to the band disbanding so they searched for another Bassist.

Addition of Jason Newsted

Metallica held auditions to find a new bassist in which roughly 40 people had attended. Among these was Jason Newsted (formely of Flotsam and Jetsam) who had learned the entire setlist of Metallica's work. After the audition Metallica invited Jason to Tommys Joynt in San Francisco where the rest of the band felt that Jason was the bassist to replace Cliff. Jason played his first live show in Reseda, California.

First Video Production

Following the release of Metallica's 4th studio album (..And Justice for All) Metallica created a video for their song 'One'. The band filmed themselves playing the song in an abandoned warehouse. This footage was then remixed with the film Johnny Got His Gun after Metallica purchased the rights to it. Metallica submitted their video to MTV for approval. MTV approved of the video giving viewers a first look at Metallica's music. The video was later voted in 1999 38th in MTV's show "Top 100 Videos of All Time" countdown.

Newsteds Departure

As plans were being made to enter the recording studio, Newsted left the band on 17 January 2001. His reason for leaving was

"private and personal reasons, and the physical damage I have done to myself over the years while playing the music that I love."

Addition of Robert Trujillo

After the recording of Metallica's 8th studio album (St Anger) an audition process was started to find a new bassist. Following 3 months of auditioning, Robert Trujillo was chosen to replace Newsted as bassist. Trujillo had previously played bass for Suicidal Tendancies and Ozzy Osbournes band.

The Present Day

To date, Metallica have sold over 100 million albums worldwide making them the most commercially successful thrash metal band in history. They have recieved 9 Grammys, 2 MTV Video Music Awards, 2 American Music Awards, 3 Billboard Music Awards and are inducted into the Kerrang! hall of fame. Metallica are still touring and are currently in the middle of their World Magnetic tour, which was voted by Billboard magazine as the 11th best selling tour of 2009. The band have currently said that there are no plans for a tenth album but they have said they would like to record with their last producer - Rick Rubin - again.

  

















1st Picture: First Metallica lineup. Left to Right: James Hetfield, Ron McGovney, Lars Ulrich, Dave Mustaine
2nd Picture: Cliff Burton
3rd Picture: Jason Newsted
4th Picture: Current Metallica lineup. Left to Right: Robert Trujillo, Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett