Metallica

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Metallica
Metallica at the 2024 Gershwin Prize ceremony. From left to right: Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, Robert Trujillo, and James Hetfield.
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Heavy metal thrash metal hard rock speed metal
Years active	1981–present
Labels	Megaforce Elektra Vertigo Warner Bros. Blackened
Members	James Hetfield Lars Ulrich Kirk Hammett Robert Trujillo
Past member(s)	Dave Mustaine Ron McGovney Cliff Burton† Jason Newsted
Website	metallica.com

Metallica is an American heavy metal rock band formed in 1981 based out of Los Angeles,. They are seen as pioneers of the thrash sub-genre of heavy metal. The band is one of the "Big Four" of early thrash metal, with Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax. They are well known for many of their songs, including "Master of Puppets", "The Unforgiven", "One", "Enter Sandman", and "Nothing Else Matters". Since then, they have become one of the most popular and successful bands of metal, and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide.^[1] The band's fifth album, Metallica, has sold over 22 million copies, making it one of the top 20 best selling albums of all time.^[2] Metallica's current members are guitarist and singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. Hetfield and Ulrich write most of the band's songs.

Metallica became popular when they released their third album, Master of Puppets, on March 3, 1986. It is called the band's best album. The band was nominated for a Grammy Award for their fourth album, ...And Justice For All, in 1988. Their next album, Metallica, commonly known as the "Black Album", was their most popular. The band's latest studio album is 72 Seasons, which was released on April 14, 2023.

Metallica has sold over 125 million total albums.^[3]

1. ↑ "Archived copy". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on 2011-08-14. Retrieved 2017-08-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. ↑ Vaziri, Aidin (2012-09-09). "Kirk Hammett: Some kind of monster fan". SFGATE. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
3. ↑ "Metallica to get 'Nobel Prize of music'". BBC News. 2018-02-14. Retrieved 2022-11-01.