Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer. Metallica's current lineup comprises founding members and primary songwriters Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, and bassist Robert Trujillo. Former members of the band are bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton, and Jason Newsted, and guitarist Dave Mustaine, who formed Megadeth after being fired from Metallica in 1983.
Metallica first found commercial success with the release of its third album, Master of Puppets (1986), which is often cited as one of the best metal albums of all time. The band's next album, ...And Justice for All (1988), gave Metallica its first Grammy Award nomination. Its fifth album, Metallica (1991), was a turning point for the band that saw it transition from its thrash metal roots; the album appealed to a more mainstream audience, achieving substantial commercial success and selling more than 16 million copies in the United States to date, making it the best-selling album of the SoundScan era. After experimenting with different genres and directions in subsequent releases, Metallica returned to its thrash metal roots with its ninth album, Death Magnetic (2008), which drew similar praise to that of the band's earlier albums. The band's eleventh and most recent album, 72 Seasons, was released in 2023.
In 2000, Metallica led the case against the peer-to-peer file sharing service Napster, in which the band and several other artists filed lawsuits against the service for sharing their copyright-protected material without consent, eventually reaching a settlement. Metallica was the subject of the acclaimed 2004 documentary film Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, which documented the troubled production of the band's eighth album, St. Anger (2003), and the internal struggles within the band at the time. In 2009, Metallica was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band co-wrote the screenplay for and starred alongside Dane DeHaan in the 2013 concert film Metallica: Through the Never, in which the band performed live against a fictional thriller storyline.
Metallica is one of the most commercially successful bands of all time, having sold more than 163 million albums worldwide , and is the third-best-selling music artist since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991, having sold 58 million albums in the United States . The band has released eleven studio albums, four live albums (including two performances with the San Francisco Symphony), twelve video albums, one cover album, two extended plays, 37 singles and 39 music videos. Metallica has won ten Grammy Awards from 26 nominations and had six consecutive studio albums, from Metallica through Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (2016), debut at number one on the Billboard 200. Metallica has been listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by magazines such as Rolling Stone, which ranked the band in 61st place on its list of 100 greatest artists of all time.
History
1981–1984: Formation, early years, and Kill 'Em All
Metallica was formed in Los Angeles in late 1981 when Danish drummer Lars Ulrich placed an advertisement in a Los Angeles newspaper, The Recycler, in which the advertisement read, "Drummer looking for other metal musicians to jam with Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and Iron Maiden." Guitarists James Hetfield and Hugh Tanner of Leather Charm answered the advertisement. Although he had not formed a band, Ulrich asked Metal Blade Records founder Brian Slagel if he could record a song for the label's upcoming compilation album, Metal Massacre. Slagel accepted.
The band name came from Ulrich's friend Ron Quintana, who was thinking of names for a fanzine and was considering MetalMania or Metallica. After hearing the two names, Ulrich wanted the latter for his band, so he suggested Quintana use MetalMania instead. Dave Mustaine replied to an advertisement for a lead guitarist; Ulrich and Hetfield recruited him after seeing his expensive guitar equipment. with newly recruited bassist Ron McGovney. They were chosen to open for British heavy metal band Saxon at the second gig of their 1982 U.S. tour.
Metallica recorded its first demo, Power Metal, whose name was inspired by McGovney's early business cards, in early 1982. According to Mustaine, the band was "fed up" with auditioning guitar players and Hetfield became the de facto guitarist, in addition to the vocalist. Hetfield played guitar live for the first time at the band's fifth gig, in May 1982. Metal Massacre I was released on June 14, 1982; early pressings listed the band incorrectly as "Mettallica", which angered the band. Hetfield sang and played both bass and rhythm guitar, while Lars Ulrich played drums
The term "thrash metal" was coined in February 1984 by Kerrang! journalist Malcolm Dome in reference to Anthrax's song "Metal Thrashing Mad". Prior to this, Hetfield referred to Metallica's sound as "power metal". In late 1982, Ulrich and Hetfield attended a show at the West Hollywood nightclub Whisky a Go Go, which featured bassist Cliff Burton in the band Trauma. The two were "blown away" by Burton's use of a wah-wah pedal and asked him to join Metallica. Hetfield and Mustaine wanted McGovney to leave because they thought he "didn't contribute anything, he just followed."
Metallica was ready to record their debut album, but when Metal Blade was unable to cover the cost, they began looking for other options. Concert promoter Jonathan "Jonny Z" Zazula, who had heard the demo No Life 'til Leather (1982), offered to broker a record deal between Metallica and New York City–based record labels. After those record labels showed no interest, Zazula borrowed enough money to cover the recording budget and signed Metallica to his own label, Megaforce Records.
thumb|Dave Mustaine (pictured in 2009) went on to found rival band Megadeth after being fired from the band in 1983.
In May 1983, Metallica traveled to Rochester, New York, to record its debut album, Metal Up Your Ass, which was produced by Paul Curcio. The other members decided to eject Mustaine from the band because of his drug and alcohol abuse and violent behavior just before the recording sessions on April 11, 1983. Exodus guitarist Kirk Hammett replaced Mustaine the same afternoon. This was the first time the two bands performed live together.
Because of conflicts with its record label and the distributors' refusal to release an album titled Metal Up Your Ass, the album was renamed Kill 'Em All. It was released on Megaforce Records in the U.S. and on Music for Nations in Europe, and peaked at number 155 on the Billboard 200 in 1986.