Metallica

Los Angeles to San Francisco

James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich came together in Los Angeles in late 1981, after Ulrich placed a newspaper ad. The band dates its formation to 28 October 1981. The name came from Ron Quintana, who had considered MetalMania or Metallica as titles for a fanzine. Their first gig was in March 1982 at the Radio City club in Anaheim, with Ron McGovney on bass.

Dave Mustaine played lead guitar in the early line-up. In April 1983 the band fired him over drug and alcohol problems, aggression and clashes, and Kirk Hammett took his place. Mustaine went on to form Megadeth. Cliff Burton had joined from the band Trauma, which Hetfield and Ulrich saw in Los Angeles in 1982. He agreed to come on one condition: that the band move to the San Francisco Bay Area. They did, and they stayed based there for most of their career.

The first four albums

Kill 'Em All was recorded in Rochester, New York, in May 1983 and released that July on Megaforce. Ride the Lightning followed in 1984, made in Copenhagen with the producer Flemming Rasmussen, and Elektra reissued it in November after signing the band. It held their first power ballad, Fade to Black, and the bell-tolling For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Master of Puppets was recorded in Copenhagen between September and December 1985 and released in March 1986. It was their first gold album and thrash's first platinum one. The title track, Master of Puppets, became the song the band played live more than any other. From March to August 1986 the band opened for Ozzy Osbourne in the United States, its first tour to arena-sized audiences. On 27 September 1986, the morning after a show in Stockholm on the Damage, Inc. Tour, the tour bus overturned in Sweden and Burton was killed at 24. Jason Newsted took his place.

...And Justice for All arrived in 1988 and was the band's first top-ten album. Its long, intricate songs drew praise, and complaints that Newsted's bass was almost missing from the mix. The single One, built on Dalton Trumbo's novel Johnny Got His Gun, brought them their first video and, in 1990, their first Grammy.

The Black Album and after

With the producer Bob Rock, the band made Metallica, known as the Black Album, between October 1990 and June 1991. The songs were slower and simpler than before. It entered the Billboard 200 at number one and became the best-selling album of the SoundScan era in the United States. Enter Sandman and Nothing Else Matters became two of the band's best-known songs. The 1991 Monsters of Rock tour ended on 28 September at Tushino Airfield in Moscow, described as the first free outdoor Western rock concert in Soviet history.

Load came in 1996 and Reload in 1997, then the covers set Garage Inc. in 1998. In 1999 the band played with the San Francisco Symphony, arranged and conducted by Michael Kamen, and released the result as S&M. In 2000 Metallica sued Napster, and the case settled. Newsted left in January 2001 after Hetfield opposed his side projects, and Hetfield entered rehab. The turmoil of the following years was filmed for the documentary Some Kind of Monster. St. Anger came out in June 2003, and Robert Trujillo joined the same year.

Rick Rubin produced Death Magnetic in 2008, and the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2009. In 2011 they made Lulu with Lou Reed. In December 2013 they became the first band to play on all seven continents, with a show in Antarctica. Hardwired... to Self-Destruct followed in 2016 and 72 Seasons in 2023.

Reach

Metallica count among the thrash "big four" with Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. By 2023 they had sold more than 163 million albums worldwide, and six consecutive studio albums, from Metallica through Hardwired... to Self-Destruct, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. They have won ten Grammys from 26 nominations. In 2021 the tribute set The Metallica Blacklist gathered 53 covers of the Black Album's songs, with half of its proceeds going to the band's All Within My Hands Foundation.