Metallica

Metallica formed in Los Angeles in 1981, when Danish-born drummer Lars Ulrich placed a classified ad that was answered by guitarist and singer James Hetfield. The pair have led the group ever since, relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area and building a sound around fast tempos, intricate riffing and unusually long, structurally ambitious songs. Their 1983 debut, Kill 'Em All, helped codify thrash metal, and the follow-ups Ride the Lightning (1984) and Master of Puppets (1986) turned the band into the standard-bearers of the genre. Along with Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax, Metallica became one of thrash's "Big Four", and by common consent the leader of that group — the act that carried an underground, tape-trading style into arenas and eventually stadiums worldwide. The band's momentum was interrupted in September 1986, when bassist Cliff Burton was killed in a tour bus crash in Sweden. Burton, a classically influenced player whose harmonic sense shaped the group's most adventurous writing, was 24. Metallica continued with Jason Newsted, whose first full album with them, ...And Justice for All (1988), delivered their first Top 10 US placing and, in "One", their first major MTV hit. Their commercial breakthrough came with 1991's self-titled album, universally known as the Black Album. Produced by Bob Rock, it traded the long, multi-part epics for tighter, groove-driven songs such as "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Sad but True" and "Nothing Else Matters". It topped charts around the world and became one of the best-selling albums ever made, certified 20x platinum by the RIAA in 2025, while remaining a permanent fixture on the Billboard 200 decades after release. Load (1996) and Reload (1997) pushed further toward hard rock and blues, alienating some longtime fans while broadening the band's audience. The early 2000s were the group's most turbulent period. In 2000 Metallica sued the file-sharing service Napster, a fight that made them the public face of the music industry's battle over digital piracy and drew heavy criticism from younger listeners. Newsted left in 2001; Hetfield entered rehab; the fractured sessions that followed produced St. Anger (2003) and the documentary Some Kind of Monster, which laid the band's near-collapse bare. Robert Trujillo joined on bass in 2003 and stabilized the lineup, and Death Magnetic (2008), Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (2016) and 72 Seasons (2023) all debuted at number one in the United States. With well over 100 million records sold, multiple Grammy Awards, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, and a run of record-breaking stadium tours, Metallica rank among the best-selling and most influential music acts of all time.