Metallica members

James Hetfield is a singer and guitarist and one of the founding members of Metallica. As the band's frontman, Hetfield's snarling vocal delivery and unique rhythm guitar playing helped to popularise the Thrash Metal genre in the early 1980's.

Biography

Hetfield was born in Downey, California, in a suburb of Los Angeles on 3rd August 1963. He began to play guitar and was influenced by bands such as Black Sabbath, Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy and AC/DC, and later responded to an advert for musicians posted by drummer Lars Ulrich. Ulrich was looking for other musicians to form a band with and so the beginnings of Metallica were formed.

Hetfield and Ulrich relocated to San Francisco in 1983, with Cliff Burton and future Megadeth frotnman Dave Mustaine. Mustaine was quickly dropped in favour of Kirk Hammett, who joined the band as lead guitarist just before they released their debut album, Kill 'Em All.

Jason Newsted is best known as the bassist with heavy metal legends Metallica. He was part of the band for 14 years, hired after original bassist Cliff Burton died in a road accident.

Prior to Metallica, Newsted was bassist for the thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam for their first album, Doomsday for the Receiver. He auditioned and won the role of bassist for Metallica after Cliff Burton's death in 1986.

Career with Metallica

His first appearance with the band on record was the 5 track Garage Days Re-Revisited, the $5.98 EP, followed by Metallica's fourth studio album, ...And Justice For All in 1988. However, Newsted's contribution to the album was criticised, as was the overall sound quality.

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.