James Hitfield on live perform.With latest album Death Magnetic in its second week at No. 1, it was announced on Monday,
Sept 22, that the heavy-metal icons have been nominated for induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (alongside the Stooges and Run-DMC) in their first year of eligibility. Has it really been 25 head-banging years since Kill 'Em All taught us the meaning of thrash?
It really has. Here's a look at a handful of major Metallica moments (some good, some bad, most ugly) on the road to Death Magnetic.
1981 -Lars Ulrich's ad in LA paper The Recycler finds him looking for "metal musicians to jam with," citing the following frames of reference: Tigers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and Iron Maiden. James Hetfield responds. That same year, Ulrich talks a friend into naming his fanzine Metal Mania. The friend had been trying to choose between that and Metallica.
1982 - Lead guitarist Dave Mustaine responds to Ulrich's latest ad in The Recycler. Later that same year, they cut their first song, Hit The Lights, for Metal Massacre I. Their name is misspelled in the credits. Hetfield scowls. Before the year is out, they've persuaded Cliff Burton to join the fold on bass.
1983 - They fire Mustaine and bring in Kirk Hammett of Exodus just in time for Kill 'Em All, their classic first release.
1984 - The equally assaultive second album Ride The Lightning hits the streets.
1985 - The band plays Monsters of Rock with Bon Jovi and Ratt at Castle Donnington in England. Hetfield tells the crowd "If you came here to see spandex, eye makeup and the words 'Oh baby' in every (expletive) song, this ain't the (expletive) band."
1986 - Master of Puppets, the first gold album, hits the streets in February. On Sept. 27, the band is en route to Copenhagen when the bus driver loses control. The bus flips and crushes Cliff Burton to death. On Nov. 8, it is back on stage with Jason Newsted in for Burton.
1987 - Newsted makes his first appearance on a record - The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited. It, too, goes gold. In December, a video, Cliff 'Em All, pays tribute to the band's fallen comrade.
1988 - Master of Puppets is certified platinum; three months later, . . . And Justice For All becomes the band's first Top 10 album. It's certified platinum on Halloween.
1989 - The band sings One, the first video hit, at the Grammy Awards but lose to Jethro Tull for Best Metal Performance. Nothing quite says metal like a flute, it seems.
1990 - Metallica wins its first Grammy and spend $1 million recording the much-anticipated follow-up to . . . And Justice For All.
1991 - Having won a second Grammy, this time for the cover of a Queen song, Metallica hits the charts at No. 1 with the self-titled black album, which spends the next four weeks there, spinning off the big crossover hit Enter Sandman. Seventeen years later, it stands as the 25th best-selling album in U.S. history with total sales of 15 million.
1992 - James Hetfield has a run-in with a 12-foot flame on stage in Montreal, resulting in burns on his face, hands, arms and legs.
1993 - A live box set, Live (Expletive): Binge & Purge, is released. It's packaged in an imitation road case with three videos, three CDs and tour memorabilia.
1995 - The band plays seven Motorhead covers at Lemmy's birthday party.
1996 - The inevitable let-down after the black album ensues with the release of Load, which hits the charts at No. 1. That same year, Metallica plays Lollapalooza with punk legends the Ramones.
1997 - Metallica makes the American Music Awards safe for metal, performing King Nothing. The band wins best metal/hard rock album. Reload hits the charts at No. 1 in November.
1998 - Garage Inc., a deluxe reissue of Garage Days fleshed out with a bunch of covers, hits the charts at No. 2. To celebrate, the band plays all cover songs at five shows and brings in a cover band, Battery, to open each show with a set of Metallica covers.
1999 - The band wins another Grammy, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown declares April 7 Metallica Day, and later that month, it performs two nights with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, as conducted by Michael Kamen, who'd previously orchestrated a song on the self-titled black album (Nothing Else Matters). In December, a recording of those concerts hits the street as S&M. And that, of course, is short for Symphony and Metallica.
2000 - It wins another Grammy and sue Napster, apparently having used up all the money made on the self-titled black album.
2001 - Newsted quits, citing the "physical damage" being in Metallica has cost him. He's still in the band, though, when MacFarlane Toys rolls out its Metallica action figures the following month, just in time for die-hard fans to throw their action figures in the air and wave 'em like they just don't care when Metallica wins another Grammy. In July, James Hetfield enters rehab.
2002 - Hammett wins Guitar World's Hall of Fame Award.
2003 - Robert Trujillo joins the band on bass, with Jason Newsted taking over for Trujillo in the Ozzy Osbourne band at Ozzfest. Released in June, St. Anger hits the charts at No. 1.
2004 - Some Kind of Monster, a Let It Be-style rockumentary, pulls the covers back on Hetfield's rehab, Dave Mustaine's resentment over being fired, Ulrich's resentment of Hetfield's control issues, Newsted's unhappy departure and the making of St. Anger.
2005 - The band opens two shows for the Rolling Stones in San Francisco.
2006 - The Videos 1989-2004 compiles the band's music videos on DVD, hitting the Billboard Top Videos chart at No. 3.
2008 - Recorded with Rick Rubin, Death Magnetic hits the charts at No. 1, making Metallica the first band ever to have five consecutive studio albums top the Billboard album charts.
1982 - Lead guitarist Dave Mustaine responds to Ulrich's latest ad in The Recycler. Later that same year, they cut their first song, Hit The Lights, for Metal Massacre I. Their name is misspelled in the credits. Hetfield scowls. Before the year is out, they've persuaded Cliff Burton to join the fold on bass.
1983 - They fire Mustaine and bring in Kirk Hammett of Exodus just in time for Kill 'Em All, their classic first release.
1984 - The equally assaultive second album Ride The Lightning hits the streets.
1985 - The band plays Monsters of Rock with Bon Jovi and Ratt at Castle Donnington in England. Hetfield tells the crowd "If you came here to see spandex, eye makeup and the words 'Oh baby' in every (expletive) song, this ain't the (expletive) band."
1986 - Master of Puppets, the first gold album, hits the streets in February. On Sept. 27, the band is en route to Copenhagen when the bus driver loses control. The bus flips and crushes Cliff Burton to death. On Nov. 8, it is back on stage with Jason Newsted in for Burton.
1987 - Newsted makes his first appearance on a record - The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited. It, too, goes gold. In December, a video, Cliff 'Em All, pays tribute to the band's fallen comrade.
1988 - Master of Puppets is certified platinum; three months later, . . . And Justice For All becomes the band's first Top 10 album. It's certified platinum on Halloween.
1989 - The band sings One, the first video hit, at the Grammy Awards but lose to Jethro Tull for Best Metal Performance. Nothing quite says metal like a flute, it seems.
1990 - Metallica wins its first Grammy and spend $1 million recording the much-anticipated follow-up to . . . And Justice For All.
1991 - Having won a second Grammy, this time for the cover of a Queen song, Metallica hits the charts at No. 1 with the self-titled black album, which spends the next four weeks there, spinning off the big crossover hit Enter Sandman. Seventeen years later, it stands as the 25th best-selling album in U.S. history with total sales of 15 million.
1992 - James Hetfield has a run-in with a 12-foot flame on stage in Montreal, resulting in burns on his face, hands, arms and legs.
1993 - A live box set, Live (Expletive): Binge & Purge, is released. It's packaged in an imitation road case with three videos, three CDs and tour memorabilia.
1995 - The band plays seven Motorhead covers at Lemmy's birthday party.
1996 - The inevitable let-down after the black album ensues with the release of Load, which hits the charts at No. 1. That same year, Metallica plays Lollapalooza with punk legends the Ramones.
1997 - Metallica makes the American Music Awards safe for metal, performing King Nothing. The band wins best metal/hard rock album. Reload hits the charts at No. 1 in November.
1998 - Garage Inc., a deluxe reissue of Garage Days fleshed out with a bunch of covers, hits the charts at No. 2. To celebrate, the band plays all cover songs at five shows and brings in a cover band, Battery, to open each show with a set of Metallica covers.
1999 - The band wins another Grammy, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown declares April 7 Metallica Day, and later that month, it performs two nights with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, as conducted by Michael Kamen, who'd previously orchestrated a song on the self-titled black album (Nothing Else Matters). In December, a recording of those concerts hits the street as S&M. And that, of course, is short for Symphony and Metallica.
2000 - It wins another Grammy and sue Napster, apparently having used up all the money made on the self-titled black album.
2001 - Newsted quits, citing the "physical damage" being in Metallica has cost him. He's still in the band, though, when MacFarlane Toys rolls out its Metallica action figures the following month, just in time for die-hard fans to throw their action figures in the air and wave 'em like they just don't care when Metallica wins another Grammy. In July, James Hetfield enters rehab.
2002 - Hammett wins Guitar World's Hall of Fame Award.
2003 - Robert Trujillo joins the band on bass, with Jason Newsted taking over for Trujillo in the Ozzy Osbourne band at Ozzfest. Released in June, St. Anger hits the charts at No. 1.
2004 - Some Kind of Monster, a Let It Be-style rockumentary, pulls the covers back on Hetfield's rehab, Dave Mustaine's resentment over being fired, Ulrich's resentment of Hetfield's control issues, Newsted's unhappy departure and the making of St. Anger.
2005 - The band opens two shows for the Rolling Stones in San Francisco.
2006 - The Videos 1989-2004 compiles the band's music videos on DVD, hitting the Billboard Top Videos chart at No. 3.
2008 - Recorded with Rick Rubin, Death Magnetic hits the charts at No. 1, making Metallica the first band ever to have five consecutive studio albums top the Billboard album charts.
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