Humanity has been making music for as long as we can remember. For many years, when music was mentioned, everyone thought of similar things, until the second half of the 20th century. The change in music in a few decades is many times greater than the change throughout history. During this period, countless new musical genres and countless musical groups emerged. One of them is the band Metallica, which we remember as a legend today.
Metallica literally left its mark on the history of rock music. The aggressive nature of their heavy metal music, which was difficult to keep up with, captured the minds of young people at that time. Not only at that time, but even today, saying Metallica means passing into another world with the rhythms coming from your ears. Let’s take a closer look at the interesting events that have happened to Metallica since its founding.
Information about Metallica:
- The Metallica legend started with a newspaper ad.
- The name of the band’s first album was censored.
- Metallica experienced its explosion with Master of Puppets.
- After Cliff Burton’s death, the band decided to disband.
- The band’s albums were burned in the street because of a lawsuit they filed.
- It was James Hetfield who fired Jason Newsted.
- Metallica couldn’t get enough of Grammy Awards.
- It is the only musical group that has given concerts all over the world.
- He is one of the best-selling albums in the world.
The Metallica legend started with a newspaper ad:
Lars Ulrich, then a young musician, wanted to form a band and in late 1981 he placed the following ad in the newspaper The Recycler: “Drummer is looking for someone who plays Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and Iron Maiden.” James Hetfield was the first to respond to the ad. Later, Dave Mustaine and Ron McGovney joined the band, but when Mustaine left, he was replaced by Kirk Hammett, and when McGovney left, Cliff Burton took his place.
The person who named the band is Lars Ulrich. His friend at the time, Ron Quintana, was making plans to publish a magazine. He had two names in mind; Metal Mania and Metallica. Ulrich told him the name Metal Mania was great because he thought the name Metallica was legendary for his band. James Hetfield also prepared the band’s logo and Metallica was officially established.
The name of the band’s first album was censored:
The Metallica band formed in 1981 and immediately started working and released their first album, Kill ‘Em All, consisting of ten songs, in 1983. Actually, they had planned the album title as Metal Up Your Ass: Easters Cancelled, Bodys Been Found. However, the album company wanted it to be changed, saying that the band, which was already making heavy metal, and releasing it with such a harsh name would create a negative atmosphere. Even though Cliff Burton was uncomfortable, he agreed and changed the album’s name to Kill ‘Em All in tribute to the label executives. Even though the album was not very successful, it made the group known.
Metallica experienced its explosion with its unforgettable song Master of Puppets:
Metallica, which released the album Ride the Lightning after Kill ‘Em All, released the album Master of Puppets in 1986 after signing with Elektra Records. Without any advertising, this album sold millions of copies and received critical acclaim. They rose from the 200th place to the 29th place in the most listened to songs. The song Orion became the most liked song of the album. With this album, the doors of a new era were opened for Metallica.
They decided to disband after the death of the band’s 24-year-old bassist Cliff Burton:
According to band members, the person who made Metallica Metallica was bassist Cliff Burton. He died in 1986, at the age of 24, as a result of a bus accident during the Swedish leg of his European tour. His legendary song Orion was played at his funeral and his ashes were scattered in different parts of the Bay Area. This terrible situation affected everyone and the group decided to disband. However, Cliff Burton’s family opposed this decision and wanted the band to continue playing for Cliff. The band’s new bassist was Jason Newsted.
The band’s albums were burned on the street because of a lawsuit they filed:
Metallica made a soundtrack called I Disappear for the 2000 movie Mission: Impossible II. However, the song was leaked before it was released and was distributed through a program called Napster. Seeing that 300 thousand people had downloaded the song, the team immediately filed a lawsuit and closed the accounts of everyone who downloaded the song and ensured that the program owners were punished. This event garnered an incredible response. Metallica fans took to the streets and thousands of Metallica albums were burned in protest. Lars Ulrich said in later years that what they did was stupid.
It was James Hetfield who fired Jason Newsted:
It is the fate of rock music bands, the lineup changes constantly. Jason Newsted, who joined the team after Cliff Burton’s death, was the last name to leave the cast. In his statement, he said that this tempo was now tiring, but according to what was said, James Hetfield wanted him to leave because he was uncomfortable with him doing other projects. As a result, he was replaced by Robert Trujillo in 2003, and Metallica reached its current lineup today.
Metallica couldn’t get enough of the Grammy Award:
Although their musical style is not very compatible with popular culture, Metallica has been honored many times by the Grammy Music Awards, which dominate the American music industry. Metallica, which was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for the first time in 1990, won 9 Grammy Awards in many different categories such as Best Rock Song, Best Hard Rock Performance, Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and Best Long Music Video in the following years. What was deemed worthy?
It is the only musical group that has given concerts all over the world:
The band, which has released 11 studio albums, 8 live albums, 3 EPs, 43 music videos and 44 singles to date, has given more than 1700 concerts in 60 countries. We can see similar statistics in other bands, but Metallica has performed everywhere, including Antarctica. In 2013, the band gave a concert called Freeze ‘Em All at the Argentine Antarctic Base Carlini helipad in Antarctica, and appeared in front of approximately 120 people. Thus, Metallica made history as the only band that gave concerts on all 7 continents.
One of the best-selling albums in the world:
According to the figures announced after their album Hardwired… to Self-Destruct, released in 2016, Metallica sold more than 125 million albums worldwide, making them among the best-selling musicians in the world. The number of albums sold in the United States alone was approximately 67 million. The numbers are not exact since the albums that followed that day were made available on digital media, but there is no need to be a prophet to say that Metallica is still one of the most listened to music bands even today.
We talked about the extraordinary information, some of which you may have heard for the first time, about Metallica, the heavy metal band that has written its name in golden letters in world music history. You can share your favorite Metallica song in the comments.
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