N°84 Lars Ulrich
Born in Gentofte, Denmark, Lars Ulrich is best known for his part in the heavy metal band Metallica. In his early years of life, Ulrich intended to follow in his father, Torben Ulrich footsteps in becoming a professional tennis player. However, after attending a Deep Purple concert Ulrich found a new interest in music. So when he was just 12 years old, his grandmother gifted him his first drum kit.
Ulrich moved from Denmark to California in 1980, when he was only 16. Soon after that, in the early 80’s, Ulrich met James Hetfield and together they formed the famous American heavy metal band Metallica. After almost being named Metal Mania, Ulrich decided on Metallica after brainstorming ideas with his friend Ron Quintana.
Lars Ulrich has been coined a pioneer of fast thrash drum beats and has since been considered one of the most influential drummers not only from his involvement in Metallica but his drum techniques as well. For instance, Ulrich has adopted a simplified style of drumming by reducing his kit from a 9 piece to a 7 piece. This popular style of drumming is featured in many Metallica songs you may know including Metal Militia, Fight Fire With Fire, and Battery.
Ulrich has also had his hand in acting. In 2012 he played Joris Ivens in the HBO original film Hemingway & Gellhorn alongside actors Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen. Soon after this release, Ulrich was the feature of a documentary film Mission to Lars. The film focuses on Kate and Will Spicer seeking to bring their brother Tom who lives with Fragile X Syndrome in England to meet Lars Ulrich, Tom’s long standing idol at one of Metallica’s concerts in California. More recently, he has been the host of It’s Electric on Apple Music featuring conversations with other musicians such as Joan Jett, Tom Morello, Sean Penn, Noel Gallagher and Jerry Cantrell.
The legacy of Metallica is hard to overstate. Many of their songs live on as classics. Songs like Nothing else matters, Enter Sandman, One, and The Unforgiven. They popularized heavy metal music in the 80’s, the times of the highly popular glam rock bands.
The band is still active today, 41 years in. They have had their ups and downs as a group, as was clearly shown in the 2004 documentary Some kind of Monster. Highly recommended.
As for Ulrich’s private life. He has three kids from previous relationships (including a son with Connie Nielsen) and lives in California with his wife, model Jessica Miller.
Metallica’s Discography
- Kill ‘Em All (1983)
- Ride the Lightning (1984)
- Master of Puppets (1986)
- …And Justice for All (1988)
- Metallica (1991)
- Load (1996)
- Reload (1997)
- St. Anger (2003)
- Death Magnetic (2008)
- Hardwired… to Self-Destruct (2016)
All pictures in this article are from Lars Ulrich’s IG
