History of Metallica

History of Metallica

1962 Febuary 10, Cliff Burton is born.
November 18, Kirk Lee Hammett is born in San Fransisco, California.

1963 March 4, Jason Newsted, Cliff's replacment, is born in Battle Creek, Michigan.
August 3, James Allen Hetfield is born in Los Angeles.
December 26, Lars Ulrich is born in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he remains until the late '70s, when his parents decide to move to Newport Beach, CA, which is near Los Angeles.

1976 Lars gets his first drum kit as a present from his grandparents.

1981 Lars places an ad in a South California paper called The Recycler looking for musicians to play with. James, who has a classified ad of his own on the same page, gets together with Lars for a jam session. Lars plays all of his New Wave Of Brittish Heavy Metal to James, who starts really getting into the Brittish metal sound, and the two decide to start a band. Desperate for a name the two choose Metallica, which Lars stole off a friend.
Lars went to the UK to follow Diamond Head around for 3 months on tour. On his return he secured a deal to record a track for the Metal Blade compilation Metal Massacre. Due to the fact that he didn't yet have a band, he quickly began contacting people. The three members he managed to put together were
•Lars Ulrich (Drums)
•James Hetfield (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Bass)
•Lloyd Grant (Lead guitar)

1982 January, Metallica picks up Dave Mustaine, a fast-talking guitarist friend of James, who is replying to a ad in a music paper. Around the same time, the band enlists Hetfield's roommate, Ron McGovney, to play bass.
March 14, Metallica's first show ever is performed at Radio City, in Anaheim, CA.
April, Metallica (Hetfield, Ulrich, Mustaine and McGovney) records a four song demo. Feturing "Hit The Lights", "The Mechanix" (later renamed "The Four Horsemen"), "Jump In The Fire" and "Motorbreath."
July, Metallica records "No Life 'Til Leather", possibly the most legendary demo recording ever made. The demo is circulated worldwide by the growing metal underground, who hail the group as one of the most innovative and unique new talents on the scene! This consisted of Hit The Lights, Mechanix, Motorbreath, Seek And Destroy, Metal Militia, Jump In The Fire, and Phantom Lord.
August, aSan Francisco based band called Truma, featuring Cliff Burton, play the Whisky-A-Go-Go. Present that day, Lars and James become so impressed with the bassist that they immediately set on a hot pursuit to get him to join Metallica, an offer that he initially refuses. It isn't until the end of the year that Cliff finally agrees to become a member of the band, but only on the condition that the band moves to San Francisco.
November 29, Metallica plays its first headlining gig in the Bay Area. Opening the show was a local band, Exodus, who at the time featured Kirk Hammett, then 20 years old.

1983 January 4, Metallica called Kirk and asked him if he would like to join Metallica in New York for an audition. Kirk thought someone played a trick on him, and answered "Yes, sure". The next day they called again to supply further details, and he realized that they were serious.
April, While in New York, Lars and James make the decision to drop Mustaine from the band.
May 10-27, The band enter Barrett Alley Studios in Rochester, New York, to record their legendary debut album, "Kill 'em All" (originally to be named "Metal Up Your Ass").

1984 June, Metallica completes the album "Ride The Lightning".
November, the "Creeping Death" EP is released, featuring the original garage days on the B-side. Included is one cover tune, originally recorded by Blitzkrieg, and one track by Diamond Head. These tracks are now available on the re-release of "Kill 'Em All", and "Garage Days Re-Revisited" is the follow up to this recording.

1985 December, Metallica completes the album "Master Of Puppets".

1986 March 27, the tour with Ozzy Osbourne starts. Supporting Ozzy was a very important tour for Metallica, as their popularity was steadily rising and they were ready to hit it big. This was also their last tour as a supporting act.
June 26, shortly before a gig in Adamsville, James broke his wrist in the infamous "skateboarding incident." The show was cancelled, and during the rest of the tour James sang with his arm in a sling while John Marshall, Kirk’s guitar roadie, as well as a member of the band Metal Church, stood in on guitar.
September 27, on their way to Copenhagen, Metallica's tour bus overturns, throwing Cliff Burton through the wind screen killing him instantly as the bus fell on top of him.
"I saw the bus lying right on him. I saw his legs sticking out. I freaked. The bus driver, I recall, was trying to yank the blanket out from under him to use for other people. I just went, 'Don't fucking do that!' I already wanted to kill the guy. I don't know if he was drunk or if he hit some ice. All I knew was, he was driving and Cliff wasn't alive anymore." James Hetfield, 1993
October 28, Jason Newstead goes to an audition, in the hopes to become the new bass player. He learned all the songs in a couple of days, so when the three of them asked Jason what song he would like to play, he said "anyone you like." At the end of the audition, Metallica had five candidates, but invited Jason to have a drink with them at Tommy's Joint. Before leaving the place, the three members went to the loo, and when they came back, they told Jason, "Welcome to Metallica."
November 8, Metallica plays its first gig with Jason.

1987 August, The four play three Monster Of Rock festivals playing in front of over 200,000 people.
December 4, Metallica releases "Cliff Em' All". By the end of '88 it becomes the year's top-selling music home video.

1988 January 19, Metallica begin recording they're fourth album "...And Justice For All"
June 12, Metallica filmed their first music video, "One". They always said that they wouldn’t do a music video, but they now felt that the time was right, and were given maximum artistic freedom from their label.
July, "Master of Puppets" hits platinum. (1,000,000 US sales)
September 5, "...And Justice For All" is released.
December 6, The band film thier first video "One," in Los Angeles.

1990 February, Metallica wins a Grammy for Best Metal Performance, for "One". While on stage receiving the award, the band gives Jethro Tull a big thank you for not releasing anything this year, as they had won last year.
October - July, 1991: With 12 songs ready Metallica enter One On One Studios in Los Angeles, with producer Bob Rock to record the self-titled album, or the "Black Album."

1991 August 12, Metallica releases thier 5th album. Some shops opened the doors at 00:01 in the morning to be the first to sell the "Black Album". Within a week of its release it sells over 600,000 albums in the US alone.
1991-1993, following the release of "Metallica" the band goes on the road, playing more than 300 shows in 37 countries.
Febuary, Metallica wins a Grammy for the "Best Heavy Metal Performance" for "Stone Cold Crazy" featured on Elektra's Rubaiyat Compilation.

1992 August 9, James isburned by the pyrotechnics in Montreal, Canada. The next gigs had to be cancelled because James couldn't play the guitar with his burnt hand.

1993 November 29, the box set "Live Shit: Binge & Purge" is released containing three CD's, three videos and a book.

1994 October, Ulrich & Hetfield enter the rehersal studio and lay down some rough songs for what will become, nearly two years later, "Load".
March, Since it's release in 1991 Metallica's "Black Album" has sold 15 million copies worldwide - and is still selling! It is still on the Billboard top 200 list.

1996 June 4, Metallica finally release s its 6th studio album, "Load"; it features 74 minitues of music, the longest possible to be put on a C.D. (June 1 in Japan, June 3 other parts of the world)
June, ignoring all the bullshit, Metallica headlines the Lollapalooza tour, an "alternitive" music festival.
November 11, Metallica isintoduced to perform "King Nothing" live on stage at the MTV Europe Video Awards show. The lights godown and the band launches into the song "Last Caress" followed by "So What?" A few classic minutes of television to savour. The band is nominated earlier that evening, in the "Best Rock Video" catagory, but the award goes to the Smashing Pumpkins. James later says in an interview:
"We needed to wake people up at the show! We felt it was a little boring, and we had been daring each other to do that for years."

1997 January 26, Lars marriedshis long time girlfriend Skylar. Apparantly Lars says that thing about them breaking it off was so that they would not get mobbed by fans at the church when they were married.
November 11, Metallica's free concert, dubbed the "Million Decibel March," was held in a Philadelphia parking lot and was a great success. For the show's intro, they showed Jaymz playing the famous ESPN commercials' "Da-na-na, na-na-na" from the Sportscenter music on his guitar. Here is what the local newspapaer Philadelphia Inquirer had to say about the show:
"It was part burlesque show, part rugby match, and hearing-loss loud. The band was profane on stage and charming before the show. Police pronounced the fans better behaved than a Philadelphia Eagles crowd. And neighbors who feared the worst from the self-styled Loudest Band in the World complained more about the sound from the news choppers circling overhead."
November 18, Metallica releases ReLoad, a 13 track album whose songs were originally supposed to be released with Load, but weren't ready
December 6, Metallica performs live on NBC's Saturday Night Live show
December 18, Metallica's live radio show, "Don't Call Us We'll Call You", is broadcast from 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM Eastern Time, with Metallica making phone calls to fans from all over the country. Joining Metallica is Jim "Fatso" Martin (Faith No More), Les Claypool (Primus), John Popper (Blues Traveler), Jerry Cantrel and Sean Kenny (Alice in Chains), Pepper Keenan (COC), Chris Issac and Gary (Lynnard Skinnard). Lowman's Lyric, Helpless, The Four Horsemen, Poor Twisted Me, Nothing Else Matters, Creeping Death, Tuesday's Gone, and Last Caress are performed acoustically during this show.

1962	Febuary 10, Cliff Burton is born. November 18, Kirk Lee Hammett is born in San Fransisco, California.
1963	March 4, Jason Newsted, Cliff's replacment, is born in Battle Creek, Michigan. August 3, James Allen Hetfield is born in Los Angeles. December 26, Lars Ulrich is born in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he remains until the late '70s, when his parents decide to move to Newport Beach, CA, which is near Los Angeles.
1976	Lars gets his first drum kit as a present from his grandparents.
1981	Lars places an ad in a South California paper called The Recycler looking for musicians to play with. James, who has a classified ad of his own on the same page, gets together with Lars for a jam session. Lars plays all of his New Wave Of Brittish Heavy Metal to James, who starts really getting into the Brittish metal sound, and the two decide to start a band. Desperate for a name the two choose Metallica, which Lars stole off a friend. Lars went to the UK to follow Diamond Head around for 3 months on tour. On his return he secured a deal to record a track for the Metal Blade compilation Metal Massacre. Due to the fact that he didn't yet have a band, he quickly began contacting people. The three members he managed to put together were •Lars Ulrich (Drums) •James Hetfield (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Bass) •Lloyd Grant (Lead guitar)
1982	January, Metallica picks up Dave Mustaine, a fast-talking guitarist friend of James, who is replying to a ad in a music paper. Around the same time, the band enlists Hetfield's roommate, Ron McGovney, to play bass. March 14, Metallica's first show ever is performed at Radio City, in Anaheim, CA. April, Metallica (Hetfield, Ulrich, Mustaine and McGovney) records a four song demo. Feturing "Hit The Lights", "The Mechanix" (later renamed "The Four Horsemen"), "Jump In The Fire" and "Motorbreath." July, Metallica records "No Life 'Til Leather", possibly the most legendary demo recording ever made. The demo is circulated worldwide by the growing metal underground, who hail the group as one of the most innovative and unique new talents on the scene! This consisted of Hit The Lights, Mechanix, Motorbreath, Seek And Destroy, Metal Militia, Jump In The Fire, and Phantom Lord. August, aSan Francisco based band called Truma, featuring Cliff Burton, play the Whisky-A-Go-Go. Present that day, Lars and James become so impressed with the bassist that they immediately set on a hot pursuit to get him to join Metallica, an offer that he initially refuses. It isn't until the end of the year that Cliff finally agrees to become a member of the band, but only on the condition that the band moves to San Francisco. November 29, Metallica plays its first headlining gig in the Bay Area. Opening the show was a local band, Exodus, who at the time featured Kirk Hammett, then 20 years old.
1983	January 4, Metallica called Kirk and asked him if he would like to join Metallica in New York for an audition. Kirk thought someone played a trick on him, and answered "Yes, sure". The next day they called again to supply further details, and he realized that they were serious. April, While in New York, Lars and James make the decision to drop Mustaine from the band. May 10-27, The band enter Barrett Alley Studios in Rochester, New York, to record their legendary debut album, "Kill 'em All" (originally to be named "Metal Up Your Ass").
1984	June, Metallica completes the album "Ride The Lightning". November, the "Creeping Death" EP is released, featuring the original garage days on the B-side. Included is one cover tune, originally recorded by Blitzkrieg, and one track by Diamond Head. These tracks are now available on the re-release of "Kill 'Em All", and "Garage Days Re-Revisited" is the follow up to this recording.
1985	December, Metallica completes the album "Master Of Puppets".
1986	March 27, the tour with Ozzy Osbourne starts. Supporting Ozzy was a very important tour for Metallica, as their popularity was steadily rising and they were ready to hit it big. This was also their last tour as a supporting act. June 26, shortly before a gig in Adamsville, James broke his wrist in the infamous "skateboarding incident." The show was cancelled, and during the rest of the tour James sang with his arm in a sling while John Marshall, Kirk’s guitar roadie, as well as a member of the band Metal Church, stood in on guitar. September 27, on their way to Copenhagen, Metallica's tour bus overturns, throwing Cliff Burton through the wind screen killing him instantly as the bus fell on top of him. "I saw the bus lying right on him. I saw his legs sticking out. I freaked. The bus driver, I recall, was trying to yank the blanket out from under him to use for other people. I just went, 'Don't fucking do that!' I already wanted to kill the guy. I don't know if he was drunk or if he hit some ice. All I knew was, he was driving and Cliff wasn't alive anymore." James Hetfield, 1993 October 28, Jason Newstead goes to an audition, in the hopes to become the new bass player. He learned all the songs in a couple of days, so when the three of them asked Jason what song he would like to play, he said "anyone you like." At the end of the audition, Metallica had five candidates, but invited Jason to have a drink with them at Tommy's Joint. Before leaving the place, the three members went to the loo, and when they came back, they told Jason, "Welcome to Metallica." November 8, Metallica plays its first gig with Jason.
1987	August, The four play three Monster Of Rock festivals playing in front of over 200,000 people. December 4, Metallica releases "Cliff Em' All". By the end of '88 it becomes the year's top-selling music home video.
1988	January 19, Metallica begin recording they're fourth album "...And Justice For All" June 12, Metallica filmed their first music video, "One". They always said that they wouldn’t do a music video, but they now felt that the time was right, and were given maximum artistic freedom from their label. July, "Master of Puppets" hits platinum. (1,000,000 US sales) September 5, "...And Justice For All" is released. December 6, The band film thier first video "One," in Los Angeles.
1990	February, Metallica wins a Grammy for Best Metal Performance, for "One". While on stage receiving the award, the band gives Jethro Tull a big thank you for not releasing anything this year, as they had won last year. October - July, 1991: With 12 songs ready Metallica enter One On One Studios in Los Angeles, with producer Bob Rock to record the self-titled album, or the "Black Album."
1991	August 12, Metallica releases thier 5th album. Some shops opened the doors at 00:01 in the morning to be the first to sell the "Black Album". Within a week of its release it sells over 600,000 albums in the US alone. 1991-1993, following the release of "Metallica" the band goes on the road, playing more than 300 shows in 37 countries. Febuary, Metallica wins a Grammy for the "Best Heavy Metal Performance" for "Stone Cold Crazy" featured on Elektra's Rubaiyat Compilation.
1992	August 9, James isburned by the pyrotechnics in Montreal, Canada. The next gigs had to be cancelled because James couldn't play the guitar with his burnt hand.
1993	November 29, the box set "Live Shit: Binge & Purge" is released containing three CD's, three videos and a book.
1994	October, Ulrich & Hetfield enter the rehersal studio and lay down some rough songs for what will become, nearly two years later, "Load". March, Since it's release in 1991 Metallica's "Black Album" has sold 15 million copies worldwide - and is still selling! It is still on the Billboard top 200 list.
1996	June 4, Metallica finally release s its 6th studio album, "Load"; it features 74 minitues of music, the longest possible to be put on a C.D. (June 1 in Japan, June 3 other parts of the world) June, ignoring all the bullshit, Metallica headlines the Lollapalooza tour, an "alternitive" music festival. November 11, Metallica isintoduced to perform "King Nothing" live on stage at the MTV Europe Video Awards show. The lights godown and the band launches into the song "Last Caress" followed by "So What?" A few classic minutes of television to savour. The band is nominated earlier that evening, in the "Best Rock Video" catagory, but the award goes to the Smashing Pumpkins. James later says in an interview: "We needed to wake people up at the show! We felt it was a little boring, and we had been daring each other to do that for years."
1997	January 26, Lars marriedshis long time girlfriend Skylar. Apparantly Lars says that thing about them breaking it off was so that they would not get mobbed by fans at the church when they were married. November 11, Metallica's free concert, dubbed the "Million Decibel March," was held in a Philadelphia parking lot and was a great success. For the show's intro, they showed Jaymz playing the famous ESPN commercials' "Da-na-na, na-na-na" from the Sportscenter music on his guitar. Here is what the local newspapaer Philadelphia Inquirer had to say about the show: "It was part burlesque show, part rugby match, and hearing-loss loud. The band was profane on stage and charming before the show. Police pronounced the fans better behaved than a Philadelphia Eagles crowd. And neighbors who feared the worst from the self-styled Loudest Band in the World complained more about the sound from the news choppers circling overhead." November 18, Metallica releases ReLoad, a 13 track album whose songs were originally supposed to be released with Load, but weren't ready December 6, Metallica performs live on NBC's Saturday Night Live show December 18, Metallica's live radio show, "Don't Call Us We'll Call You", is broadcast from 10:00 PM to 1:00 AM Eastern Time, with Metallica making phone calls to fans from all over the country. Joining Metallica is Jim "Fatso" Martin (Faith No More), Les Claypool (Primus), John Popper (Blues Traveler), Jerry Cantrel and Sean Kenny (Alice in Chains), Pepper Keenan (COC), Chris Issac and Gary (Lynnard Skinnard). Lowman's Lyric, Helpless, The Four Horsemen, Poor Twisted Me, Nothing Else Matters, Creeping Death, Tuesday's Gone, and Last Caress are performed acoustically during this show.