Metallica

Metallica is an American heavy metal rock band formed in 1981 based out of Los Angeles,. They are seen as pioneers of the thrash sub-genre of heavy metal. The band is one of the "Big Four" of early thrash metal, with Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax. They are well known for many of their songs, including "Master of Puppets", "The Unforgiven", "One", "Enter Sandman", and "Nothing Else Matters". Since then, they have become one of the most popular and successful bands of metal, and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide. The band's fifth album, Metallica, has sold over 22 million copies, making it one of the top 20 best selling albums of all time. Metallica's current members are guitarist and singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. Hetfield and Ulrich write most of the band's songs.

Metallica
Metallica at the 2024 Gershwin Prize ceremony. From left to right: Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, Robert Trujillo, and James Hetfield.
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Heavy metal thrash metal hard rock speed metal
Years active	1981–present
Labels	Megaforce Elektra Vertigo Warner Bros. Blackened
Members	James Hetfield Lars Ulrich Kirk Hammett Robert Trujillo
Past member(s)	Dave Mustaine Ron McGovney Cliff Burton† Jason Newsted
Website	metallica.com

Metallica became popular when they released their third album, Master of Puppets, on March 3, 1986. It is called the band's best album. The band was nominated for a Grammy Award for their fourth album, ...And Justice For All, in 1988. Their next album, Metallica, commonly known as the "Black Album", was their most popular. The band's latest studio album is 72 Seasons, which was released on April 14, 2023.

Metallica has sold over 125 million total albums.

Band history

Band starts

The band formed after drummer Lars Ulrich placed an advertisement in a newspaper saying that he was looking for musicians to help him cover songs by Tygers of Pang Tang, Diamond Head, and Led Zeppelin. James Hetfield, a guitarist who would become the lead singer of Metallica, answered the advertisement. Later, Lars and James would be joined by another young guitar player looking for a band named Dave Mustaine. Ulrich, Hetfield, Mustaine, and bass player Ron McGovney started playing in the band. Ulrich and Hetfield saw another bass player, Cliff Burton, playing at a concert, and asked him to join the band to replace McGovney. This was because McGovney was having trouble getting along with other band members. Burton joined the band after Ulrich and Hetfield agreed to move from Los Angeles to San Francisco. In 1983, Mustaine was kicked out of the band for his drug and alcohol problems and violent behavior, and was replaced with guitarist Kirk Hammett who left his previous band, Exodus. Mustaine went on to form his own band named Megadeth. They became very popular in the metal scene, and have become one of Metallica's metal contemporaries, along with Slayer and Anthrax. All four bands are known as the "Big Four" of thrash metal.

Successful albums

In 1983, Metallica released their first studio album Kill 'Em All, on which few of the songs were still credited to Mustaine. One year later, Metallica released their second studio album Ride the Lightning. "Ride the Lightning" and "The Call of Ktulu," the album's final track, were the band's last songs to give Dave Mustaine writing credits. Metallica was one of few bands at the time to deviate from the then popular hair/glam metal trend that was taking place during the 1980s, led by bands like Poison and Mötley Crüe.

In 1986, Metallica released their third studio album, Master of Puppets, which is widely considered to be one of the greatest heavy metal albums of all time. On September 27, 1986, Cliff Burton was killed when the band's tour bus crashed in Sweden. Burton was subsequently replaced by Jason Newsted after auditioning.

With Newsted as bassist, Metallica released their fourth studio album ...And Justice for All, reaching #6 on the Billboard 200. The album features the song "One," which won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1990. The album is criticized for its production and inaudible bass guitar, which is commonly believed to be a result of Jason Newsted's hazing, during which the other members turned down the bass guitar volume on the album. The album is also known for having much more complex song structures than previous albums.

Metallica reached even greater success with their self-titled fifth studio album, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and has sold over 15 million copies in the United States. The album won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 1992, being Metallica's third consecutive Grammy (the second being their cover of Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy").

Stage accident

On August 8, 1992, when the band was playing in Montreal, James Hetfield accidentally walked into a 12 foot high blast of fire on stage. He had second and third degree burns.

Metallica's music shifted towards a more mainstream hard rock style, and continued their success with Load and ReLoad, released in 1996 and 1997, which both debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. Despite the albums' success, many fans were unhappy with the large change of style from Metallica's previous albums.

In 1998, Metallica released Garage, Inc., which was an album of cover songs by many of the artists that influenced Metallica, such as Motörhead, Mercyful Fate, Thin Lizzy, and Blue Öyster Cult.

In 2001, Newsted left Metallica to start his own project, Echobrain, much against the band's wishes, particularly James Hetfield. Their eighth studio album, St. Anger, was released in 2003, with producer Bob Rock playing bass after Newsted's departure. St. Anger also debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, but was even further disliked by fans than Load and Reload. Shortly after the release of St. Anger, bassist Robert Trujillo joined the band after a long auditioning process with many bassists. At Trujillo's request, his audition song was Battery, a very fast-paced song from Master of Puppets.

Death Magnetic, the band's ninth studio album, was released in September 2008, and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, making Metallica the first band to achieve five consecutive #1 albums in United States. Death Magnetic showed a return to the band's thrash metal roots. From 2008 to 2010, Metallica performed their World Magnetic Tour supporting the album's release. The tour concluded in Melbourne, Australia November 21, 2010.

In June 2010, Metallica attended the Sonisphere Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria with the rest of the Big 4, alongside Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer. Between Metallica's encores, all four bands took the stage to perform "Am I Evil?" by Diamond Head.

In 2011, Lulu, a collaboration album between Metallica and Lou Reed, was released. Many Metallica fans were dissatisfied due to stylistic differences between Reed and Metallica, but the album has managed to garner success.

In October 2013, Hetfield stated in an interview that the band would start working on their next album in early 2014.

In October 2020, Miley Cyrus announced that she was planning on recording a Metallica covers album and on January 7, 2021, she announced that she has recorded a cover version of "Nothing Else Matters" that would feature Elton John on piano, drummer Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers and Cellist Yo-Yo Ma. This version was produced by Andrew Watt, and was released as a promotional single for the tribute album The Metallica Blacklist.

Band members

Current lineup

• James Hetfield – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1981–present)
• Lars Ulrich – drums (1981–present)
• Kirk Hammett – lead guitar, backing vocals (1983–present)
• Robert Trujillo – bass, backing vocals (2003–present)

Former

• Dave Mustaine – lead guitar, backing vocals (1982–1983)
• Ron McGovney – bass (1982)
• Cliff Burton – bass, backing vocals (1982–1986; died 1986)
• Jason Newsted – bass, backing vocals (1986–2001)

Timeline

Discography

• Kill 'Em All (1983)
• Ride the Lightning (1984)
• Master of Puppets (1986)
• Garage Days Re-Revisited (1987)
• ...And Justice for All (1988)
• Metallica (The Black Album) (1991)
• Load (1996)
• ReLoad (1997)
• Garage, Inc. (1998)
• S&M (1999)
• St. Anger (2003)
• Death Magnetic (2008)
• Lulu (2011)
• Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (2016)
• S&M2 (2020)
• 72 Seasons (2023)