Lars Ulrich: A Brief Biography of Metallica’s Drummer and Co-founder
Lars Ulrich is best known as co-founder, and drummer for heavy metal band Metallica, which was formed in 1981. Ulrich has been drumming with Metallica for decades. The band has released ten studio albums, four live albums, twelve video albums, two extended plays, a cover album, thirty-seven singles, and thirty-nine music videos. They have had nine Grammy Awards in total, with twenty-three nominations.
Ulrich has song writing credits on almost all of Metallica’s songs. Ulrich and Hetfield are the only two remaining original members of the band, as other members have either died, or left the band. Metallica is often considered one of the most commercially successful bands of all time. They have sold over 125 million albums worldwide as of 2018.
Lars Ulrich was born on December 26, 1963. He came from an upper-middle-class in Gentofte, Denmark. Lars was the son of Lone (née Sylvester-Hvid), and Torben Ulrich — the famous Danish writer, musician, and former professional tennis player. Torben had run a small jazz club in Copenhagen when Lars was a young child. Lars’ grandfather (Torben’s father), was also a Danish tennis player, who had represented his country in the Davis Cup, as well as in the 1924 Summer Olympics. Lars’ godfather was Dexter Gordon (he was an excellent saxophone player).
In February 1973, Lars accompanied his father to a Deep Purple concert, which was held in a Copenhagen stadium. Originally, his father only had passes for him, and five of his friends. However, when one of the friends couldn’t attend, Torben decided to take young Lars with him. It was a life-changing event in nine-year-old Lars’ life.
Lars had been so amazed by the concert, that he went out and bought Deep Purple’s ‘Fireball’ album the next day. The Deep Purple concert had deepened Lars’ profound love for music, particularly for rock music. Throughout Lars Ulrich’s life, he would find a particular band as his new favourite, and become extremely passionate about them. Deep Purple are considered to be the pioneers of heavy metal, and modern hard rock. It was a greatly impactful moment in young Lars’ life.
He received his first drum kit a few years later, when he was about twelve or thirteen. The Ludwig drum kit, was a gift from his grandmother. It was a very fitting gift for young Lars, as he would master the art of drumming, and go on to form one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time.
When Lars was young, he played tennis like his father, and grandfather. In Denmark, Lars Ulrich had been in the top ten tennis players in his age group. Lars’ father had high hopes for his son’s future tennis career — hoping that Lars would follow in the family footsteps. At age 16, Lars moved to Newport Beach, California, to train professionally. He attended Corona del Mar High School. Lars tried to get on the school’s seven-person tennis team, but was unsuccessful. Because of this, Lars Ulrich started to reconsider if tennis was truly his future. He eventually dropped tennis and focused more on his drumming.
In 1981, Ulrich discovered ‘Diamond Head’ (a British heavy metal band), and was heavily interested in their sound. He bought their album, ‘Lightning to the Nations’. Ulrich travelled from San Francisco, to London to see the band live at Woolwich Odeon. He unfortunately didn’t plan his trip very well, and realized that he didn’t have a place to stay after the concert. Ulrich met the band backstage, and explained that he’d travelled all the way from San Francisco to see them perform. The band liked Ulrich, and were surprised at how far he’d travelled for the concert. Lead guitarist Brian Tatler offered to put Ulrich up for the night in Birmingham. Ulrich stayed with him overnight, and ended up touring with the band for a few weeks. He continues to be a fan of Diamond Head to this day, and has even mixed their album, ‘The Best of Diamond Head’.
When Ulrich returned to the United States, Ulrich posted an advertisement in ‘The Recycler’s classified section. He wanted to start a band with other local musicians. The ad read as ‘Drummer looking for other metal musicians to jam with Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head, and Iron Maiden.’
A few people answered the ad, such as guitarists James Hetfield, and Hugh Tanner (who both had been a member of Downey, California’s ‘Leather Charm’ heavy metal band). They disbanded in 1981, and Hetfield joined up with Ulrich, and the co-founded Metallica. The band became known for its fast tempos, and aggressive style.
Metallica was considered one of four bands that had founded ‘thrash metal’ (the other three bands were Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax). The term ‘thrash metal’ wasn’t coined until 1984, by journalist Malcolm Dome. He got the term from the Anthrax song ‘Metal Thrashing Mad’. Before this new term had been coined, Hetfield had referred to Metallica as ‘power metal’.
Lars Ulrich had contacted ‘Metal Blade Records’, and asked founder Brian Slagel if he could record a song for their planned compilation album, ‘Metal Massacre’. Slagel agreed. Ulrich talked with Hetfield, and asked him to do the singing, and rhythm guitar. They officially formed Metallica on October 28, 1981 (this was five months after the two musicians had met).
The duo was soon joined by Dave Mustaine, who had responded to the advertisement. He had a great deal of guitars, and equipment, and seemed a good fit for a lead guitarist.
In 1982, Metallica recorded their first song, called ‘Hit the Lights’. This was the song they’d submit to the compilation album, ‘Metal Massacre’. Hetfield played bass, rhythm guitar, and sang. Ulrich played drums, and Lloyd Grant did the guitar solo. The compilation CD was released on June 14, 1982. Unfortunately, they’d gotten the name wrong — referring to the new band as ‘Mettallica’. The band was angered at the misspelling.
They had their first live performance on March 14, 1982, at Radio City, in Anaheim, California. By then, they had brought in Ron McGovney, as bassist. Fans were extremely receptive of the band’s first live performance, and they were asked to open for Saxon, a British heavy metal band, during their 1982 US tour. That performance was their second gig. That same year, they recorded their first demo, ‘Power Metal’.
In autumn 1982, Ulrich and Hetfield attended a show, to watch the band ‘Trauma’. The bass player, Cliff Burton, used a wah-wah petal, and was able to produce sounds that neither Metallica band member had ever heard before. They were both dissatisfied with Ron McGovney as their bass player, and knew they needed a change. Hetfield was annoyed, because the bass player was supposed to follow the drummer. But Ron McGovney kept following the guitarist, instead. Hetfield and Ulrich believed that the band was suffering because of this.
After the show, Ulrich and Hetfield went to Cliff, and asked him he would join Metallica. At first, he decided against it. But by the end of the year, he had decided to join the band — on the condition that Metallica moves to San Francisco.
In May 1983, Metallica went to Rochester, New York, to record their first album. At that time, the band decided that Mustaine needed to leave Metallica. He had substance abuse issues, and was showing violent behaviour. The day that Mustaine left the band, Kirk Hammett took his place. Hammett had been guitarist for thrash metal band ‘Exodus’.
Mustaine, who went on to form the band ‘Megadeth’, greatly disliked Hammett. Mustaine spoke out in interviews against his replacement, stating that Hammett had ‘stolen’ his job. He was also upset, because Mustaine claimed that Hammett had gotten popular, by playing guitar leads that Mustaine had actually written.
Metallica’s first album, which was titled ‘Kill ’Em All’, was released in 1983. A year later, they released the album ‘Ride the Lightning’. Metallica was starting to gain popularity in the heavy metal scene, as fans were definitely starting to take notice. Their third album, ‘Master of Puppets’, which was released in 1986, made great strides for their success as a moderately new band. ‘Master of Puppets’ was a huge commercial success, and is often considered the band’s best work. The 1988 album, ‘. . . And Justice for All’ earned Metallica its first Grammy Award nomination.
Lars had always had music as a part of his life. From his father, godfather, and childhood friends who were all involved in music. Although Lars Ulrich had been extremely talented as a tennis player, it likely didn’t surprise any of his friends and loved ones that he had decided ultimately to focus his attention on music.
Lars Ulrich had gotten the idea for the metal band’s name, from his friend Ron Quintana. At the time, his friend had been brainstorming name ideas for a heavy metal fanzine that he was creating. There were two names that Quintana was considering — ‘Metallica’, and ‘MetalMania’. Quintana decided to take the name ‘MetalMania’, and Lars Ulrich took the name ‘Metallica’ for his band.
Lars Ulrich is an extremely talented drummer. Ulrich sang in part of ‘Leper Messiah’, and he could be heard counting to four in Danish, in the ‘St. Anger’ music video. He was quickly known as a pioneer for fast thrash drumbeats. His drumming has been extremely influential, and the band became very popular. Ulrich used certain drum techniques in his music, which stood out. Ulrich’s drumming style has gradually shifted in perceptible ways over the course of his musical career.
When the band first started up, Ulrich was well-known for his fast, and brutal thrash drumming. He would often use the double bass technique in Latin breakbeats, something that was quite common with heavy metal drummers.
In the song, ‘One’ (from the album ‘. . . And Justice for All’), and the song ‘Dyers Eve’, Lars Ulrich used the double bass drum. A great deal of Metallica’s early songs showed Ulrich’s excellent and iconic drumming. Songs such as ‘Metal Militia’, ‘Battery’ and ‘Damage Inc.’, ‘Fight Fire with Fire’, ‘One’, ‘Dyers Eve’, ‘Blackened’, and ‘That Was Just Your Life’.
Ulrich was known to use other techniques, like using groove in his drumming style, heavy drum fills, and clean and fast double bass beats. Often, Lars Ulrich would also drum in time with James Hetfield’s rhythm guitar. However, during the ’90s, Ulrich had decided to simplify his style, to fit the hard rock song writing of the Metallica albums of that time. Once the album ‘Metallica’ was released in 1991, Ulrich decided that he would go from a 9-piece kit, to a 7-piece.
He later adopted his older thrash drumming style, with the 2016 album, ‘Hardwired . . . to Self-Destruct’. This album had a more aggressive sound, and is considered much more experimental. This album featured new songs, and the deluxe version included live versions of older songs (such as ‘Ride the Lightning’, ‘Jump in the Fire’, ‘Fade to Black’, and ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’).
From 1998–2002, Ulrich teamed up with Metallica account Tim Duffy, and the ran a record label, titled ‘The Music Company’. It wasn’t as successful as Ulrich had hoped, and unfortunately, the record label ended up folding.
In 1988, Lars Ulrich married Debbie Jones. They met while he was tour in Britain. Their marriage only lasted until 1990, as the couple divorced while Ulrich was recording the Black album. The second time he got married, was in 1997, to a woman named Skylar Satenstein. She was an emergency medicine physician. They had two young sons together. Ulrich and Skylar divorced in 2004.
After the divorce, he started dating Connie Nielsen, a Danish actress. They had a child together. They stayed together in 2012, before splitting up. Following his relationship with Nielsen, Ulrich went on to date Jessica Miller, an American fashion model. They married in 2015.
Although Lars Ulrich is known worldwide for the heavy metal rock band Metallica, Ulrich has never been one to stick to just one genre. He loves to listen to a great deal of genres, but he has always had a particular fondness for jazz music. His godfather, Dexter Gordon, had been an extremely talented saxophone player. it is interesting to note that often when he is done his gigs, Ulrich will listen to jazz music as a way to unwind.
Ulrich is friends with Noel Gallagher, who had been in the band ‘Oasis’. Ulrich had always been a big fan of Oasis songs. He claimed that Noel Gallagher had inspired him to break his cocaine habit in 2008. Ulrich had occasionally played drums for Gallagher’s band, ‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’. Noel Gallagher had said, that the first American autograph he’d ever done, was for Lars Ulrich.
Lars Ulrich was a firm believer in expanding health care access in the United States. He and his family had worked with the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic, in San Francisco, California. While playing a celebrity episode of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’, Ulrich raised $32,000 for the free clinic.
Ulrich was also an avid art collector. He had amassed a personal collection. In 2002, Ulrich sold ‘Self Portrait’, by Jean-Michel Basquiet. The painting had been estimated to sell around five million dollars. The painting was auctioned off at Christie’s Auction house, for triple the estimated price. Ulrich was a big fan of Basquiat, because he related to the man’s rebellious backstory. Adam Clayton (U2), and Lenny Kravitz were known to also be large fans of Basquiat.
Ulrich was open about his love for art galleries, and museums in the European cities that he toured. Ulrich would on occasions fly out to look at a painting on his days off.
He was also a big sports fan. While attending the 2016 Men in Blazers Night of the Golden Blazer, Ulrich spoke out about how he was a fan of the Chelsea Football Club. He had gone to Stamford Bridge many times, starting in 1973, when his father was playing tennis at Wimbledon.
In April 2000, Lars Ulrich spoke out against Napster, the highly popular file sharing program. Metallica filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the company. He testified a few months later, in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. This was because all of Metallica’s songs (including ‘I Disappear’, which was still an unfinished track), were all freely available for download. The case was settled out of court, and more than 300,000 users were banned from Napster. There was a great deal of backlash from fans, because of his heavy criticism against Napster, and how so many users lost their accounts for downloading Metallica songs.
Ulrich spoke to LAUNCHcast about the Napster lawsuit, and how he’d had some regrets. He said the following: ‘I wish that I was more . . . you know, I felt kind of ambushed by the whole thing, because I didn’t really know enough about what we were getting ourselves into when we jumped. We didn’t know enough about the kind of grassroots thing, and what had been going on the last couple of months in the country, as this whole new phenomenon was going on. We were just so stuck in our controlling ways of wanting to control everything that had to do with Metallica. So, we were caught off guard and we had a little bit of a rougher landing on that one than on other times than when we just blindly leaped. But you know, I’m still proud of the fact that we did leap. . . and I took a lot of hits and it was difficult.’
Although Lars Ulrich is known for his excellent drumming skills, Ulrich has also done some acting over the years. In March 2011, Ulrich made his acting debut in the HBO film, ‘Hemingway & Gellhorn’. The film starred Nicole Kidman, Clive Owen, and Parker Posey. It was about the relationship between author and journalist Ernest Hemingway, and journalist Martha Gellhorn. The film was released on May 28, 2012.
Ulrich also had a cameo appearance in the film ‘Get Him to the Greek’. The film starred Jonah Hill, and Russell Brand. Ulrich played the husband of the Jackie Q. character. The film had a great deal of cameo appearances besides Ulrich, such as Tom Felton, Pink, Christina Aguilera, and Alanis Morissette.
Lars Ulrich was the focus of documentary, ‘Mission to Lars’. The film was about Kate and Will Spicer’s journey to get their brother, Tom, to a Metallica concert. Tom lived in a care home in Devon, England. He had Fragile X syndrome (also known as Martin-Bell syndrome, or Escalante syndrome), and he was a huge fan of Lars Ulrich. They wanted Tom to meet Lars Ulrich at one of Metallica’s California concerts held in 2009.
In 2009, Lars Ulrich, Cliff Burton, Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo, Jason Newsted, and James Hetfield were all inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ulrich was the first Danish person to ever be inducted.
Lars Ulrich had been advocating for years, to have the band Deep Purple inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. By 2016, they were finally inducted. Elated, Ulrich delivered the induction speech.
Ulrich had also been knighted in Denmark. On May 26, 2017, Ulrich was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog, by Margrethe II, for his long-standing contribution to music. The Order of Dannebrog was first created in 1671, by Christian V. At first, only noblemen could be awarded. But in 1808, Frederik VI decided that instead of non-nobles, the Order of Denmark could be awarded to Danish citizens as well. They could receive it for ‘true merit’. The Order of Dannebrog is a white silver cross, that has red edges, a crown, and a monogram of the monarch. It is inscribed with the message, ‘God and King’.
During an interview with a Dallas radio station, Ulrich talked about being dubbed a knight. Ulrich said the following: ‘I’ve heard a lot about this the last couple of days. The English take on it, is the whole sword and the kneeling and all that stuff. In Denmark, it’s a little more casual. But listen, there’s five million people in this country, okay? And not a lot happens in this country, and it’s very cool, so I’m actually very appreciative. And the Crown Prince, who’s a super-cool dude, he had a denim jacket on. I got ambushed with this. I didn’t know that it was going to happen. But he had his denim jacket on, I had a white shirt, and all of a sudden he started talking about somebody in the room that had gone above and beyond for Denmark, which was cool, and then I realized he was talking about me. There was no sword or anything. But now I’m officially a rider of Dannebrog, which is the Danish flag. So now I need to get a horse . . . that’s really what it comes down to. I have to get a horse to go along with my medal.’
SOURCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars_Ulrich
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardwired..._to_Self-Destruct
https://metallica.fandom.com/wiki/Lars_Ulrich
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather_Charm
https://web.archive.org/web/20130503023246/https://www.mtv.com/onair/icon/metallica/timeline?id=3
