Lars Ulrich

Lars Ulrich is the drummer and founding member of the heavy metal band, Metallica. He was born in Gentofte, Denmark on 26 December 1963. He founded Metallica after posting an advert for musicians in 1981 and has become one of the pioneers of the thrash metal movement.

Biography

Born in Denmark, Ulrich's father Torben was a tennis pro and a jazz musician who had played with greats like Miles Davis. An opportunity to see a Deep Purple gig was Lars' first experience of rock music.

Later on, he became excited by the band Diamond Head, to the point of travelling to London to see the band play live. He planned the trip badly and was left with nowhere to stay, but managed to persuade one of the members of the band to let him stay. As a result, he toured with the band for several weeks before returning home.

The experience led to Lars giving up his original ambition to become a professional tennis player and become a drummer instead. He placed an advert in a local newspaper, The Recycler looking for musicians. The advert read: "Drummer looking for other metal musicians to jam with Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and Iron Maiden."

In 1981, Lars met James Hetfield, and the pair formed Metallica. The band name was actually stolen from Ron Quintana, who was brainstorming names for a fanzine.

Ulrich's drumming style was remarkable and shaped the sound of early Metallica and indeed the emerging thrash metal scene.

Personal Life

Ulrich has been married twice. The first marriage, to Debbie Jones in 1988 only lasted two years, and the marriage fell apart due to Lars' absence due to Metallica committments.

His second marriage, to Skylar Satenstein, lasted seven years from 1997 until 2004. He has two sons from this relationship, Myles  (born 5 August 1998) and Layne (born 6 May 2001).

Lars is currently in a relationship with Danish actress Connie Nielsen, and the couple have a son, Bryce Thadeus Ulrich-Nielsen (born 21 May 2007).

Useful Links

• Profile of Lars Ulrich on Metallica.com