Lars Ulrich (born December 26, 1963) is the drummer, main songwriter (with James Hetfield) and co-founder of Metallica. He was born in Gentofte, Denmark to a middle-class family. A tennis prodigy in his youth, Ulrich moved to Los Angeles, California at age seventeen to pursue his training, but instead of playing tennis, he ended up as a drummer. After publishing an advertisement in a local Los Angeles newspaper called The Recycler, he met James Hetfield and formed Metallica.
Biography
Lars's father, Torben Ulrich, who was an acclaimed tennis pro from the late 1970s into the early 1980s, was also a musician, playing jazz with such giants as Stan Getz and Miles Davis; legendary saxophonist Dexter Gordon is Ulrich's godfather. In February 1973, Torben Ulrich obtained five passes for five of his friends to a Deep Purple concert that was being held in the same Copenhagen stadium as one of his tournaments. When it was discovered that one of the friends could not go, their ticket was handed over to the nine year-old Lars. The young Ulrich found himself mesmerized by the performance, buying the band's Fireball album the very next day. The concert and the album had a considerable impact on Ulrich, inspiring his entrance into the world of rock and roll and later on, heavy metal. As a result of his newfound interest in music, he received his first drum kit at the age of thirteen, a Ludwig.
In 1981, Ulrich auditioned for the heavy metal band Metal Church but he was turned down because his playing didn't meet expectations[1]. After that Ulrich met James Hetfield in Downey, California and formed the thrash metal band Metallica. Ulrich's early work with Metallica led him to be dubbed as one of the thrash metal scene's drumming greats. He became known as a pioneer of fast thrash drum beats and techniques, featured on many of Metallica's early songs, such as "Metal Militia" from "Kill 'Em All", "Fight Fire with Fire" from Ride the Lightning, "Dyers Eve" from ...And Justice for All, and "Battery" from Master of Puppets. He has since been considerably influential due to both the popularity of his band and his interesting drum techniques, such as the machine-gun double bass in the song "One" (...And Justice for All) and the pounding opening of "Enter Sandman" (Metallica).
(read less)Lars Ulrich (born December 26, 1963) is the drummer, main songwriter (with James Hetfield) and co-founder of Metallica. He was born in Gentofte, Denmark to a middle-class family. A tennis prodigy in his youth, Ulrich moved to Los Angeles, California at age seventeen to pursue his training, but instead of playing tennis, he ended up as a drummer. After publishing an advertisement in a local Los Angeles newspaper called The Recycler, he met James Hetfield and formed Metallica.
Biography
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