Metallica began on October 28, 1981, when drummer Lars Ulrich and singer/guitarist James Hetfield met in LA and agreed to form a band. It would go on to be a legendary heavy metal band and one of the best selling and longest lasting musical acts in history.
After drafting two additional members, bassist Ron McGovney and lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, they worked toward the release of their first album. Even before the release of Kill 'em All in 1983, McGovney had left and Mustaine was fired for disruptive behavior (he went on to form Megadeth). The two were replaced and Kill 'em All grew the band's popularity in the metal scene. By 1986, Master of Puppets, their third release and called "the best heavy metal album ever" by some, took them into the limelight. However, that success proved bittersweet when McGovney's replacement, bassist Cliff Burton, was killed in a bus accident in Sweden.
Eventually finding another bassist, Jason Newsted, the band released ...And Justice for All in 1988. It reached No.6 on the Billboard 200, their first in the Top 10, and was also responsible for the band's first Grammy nomination in 1989. Not until 1992 would they win for their next album, the self-titled Metallica -- also known as The Black Album -- which featured tracks such as "Enter Sandman" and "Sad But True". Infighting within the band drew out its production, yet in spite of that it quickly hit No.1 on the charts and remains the 26th best-selling album of all time in America.
If The Black Album's softer touch (relatively speaking) initiated cries that Metallica had sold out, those cries were turned up to 11 with 1996's Load. The band cut their hair, changed their image, and had another smashing No.1 success. They released ReLoad (1997) and Garage, Inc. (1998), before the controversy that has been their most infamous: the battle with Napster. In 2000, having discovered their entire catalogue free to be downloaded on the rapidly growing file-sharing network, Metallica brought legal action against Napster and three major universities who had not blocked it from their campuses. Their crusade had mixed success: 300,000 users were expelled from Napster for illegal downloading, yet the public backlash gave them an image as selfish, greedy rock stars that they have never quite lived down. The band would not allow legal downloading until finally reaching an agreement with Apple's iTunes in 2006.
Hetfield entered rehab and Newsted left the band in 2001, and for a while it looked like Metallica was finished. However, Hetfield returned and St. Anger was released in 2003. It debuted at No.1 and claimed another Grammy in 2004 for the group, despite criticism that it was unpolished. Its production was recorded in the 2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster, which also exposed the tense and explosive relationships inside one of the most famous bands in history.
