Metallica was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981 when vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield responded to an advertisement posted by drummer Lars Ulrich in a local newspaper. The band’s current line-up comprises founding members Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. The band earned a growing fan base in the underground music community and won critical acclaim with its first four albums and achieved substantial commercial success with its eponymous fifth album, also known as the Black Album, which debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard 200. With this release the band expanded its musical direction, resulting in an album that appealed to a more mainstream audience. Despite reaching Number 1 on the Billboard 200, the release of St. Anger in 2003 alienated many fans with the exclusion of guitar solos and the “steel-sounding” snare drum. Metallica ranks as one of the most commercially successful bands of all time, having sold over 100 million records worldwide. In 2012, Metallica formed the independent record label Blackened Recordings and took full ownership of its albums and videos. The band’s tenth studio album, Hardwired… to Self-Destruct, was released on November 18, 2016.

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