Lars Ulrich is a Danish-American musician who was a founding member of the legendary heavy metal band ‘Metallica’. Although Ulrich was born into a well-known family of athletes and his father was a professional tennis player, he chose a career as a musician despite his father’s encouragement to take up tennis seriously when he was a young boy. His passion for metal music and drumming began at the age of ten, when his father took him to his first concert to see ‘Deep Purple’ perform live. Ulrich was so moved by the music that he quickly acquired his first drumset and began pursuing music. He was able to jam with other heavy metal musicians after moving to Los Angeles with his family, where he met James Hetfield and formed the world-famous heavy metal band ‘Metallica’. He has been drumming for the band for over two decades and concurrently manages his own record label, ‘Music Company.’ Ulrich is the first Dane ever inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Childhood & Adolescence
Lars Ulrich was born in Gentofte, Denmark to Torben Ulrich, a professional tennis player who encouraged his son to participate in the sport. Dexter Gordon, his grandfather, was a saxophonist.
Ulrich almost mentally prepared himself to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a tennis player one day. He attended a ‘Deep Purple’ concert with his father when he was ten years old and later acquired a drumset.
Ulrich and his family relocated to Los Angeles when he was sixteen years old. There he began pursuing his passion for music by placing an advertisement in the newspaper seeking’metal musicians to jam with.’
Career of Lars
Ulrich’s 16-year-old advertisement for jamming with metal musicians attracted the attention of James Hetfield, and five months later, ‘Metallica’ was formed. The band released its debut album, ‘Kill ‘Em All,’ in 1983.
The following year, the band released ‘Ride the Lightning,’ which gained some underground popularity, but it was their third album, ‘Master of Puppets,’ in 1986, that established them commercially.
The band lost their bassist during the tour for ‘Master of Puppets’, but they continued to make music and released ‘…And Justice for All’ in 1988, which debuted in the Billboard Top 10.
Ulrich was actively involved in music production throughout the 1990s with his band, releasing albums such as ‘Metallica (1991)’, ‘Load (1996)’, ‘Reload (1997)’, and ‘Garage Inc. (1998)’. All of these albums contributed to Metallica’s success.
In the late 1990s, while still drumming for Metallica, he founded his own record label, ‘Music Company,’ and in the following years, he began to express his opposition to file sharing, prompting the band to sue ‘Napster.’
Ulrich made a cameo appearance in the film ‘Get Him to Greek (2008)’ alongside the famous English actor Russell Brand during the course of releasing ‘St. Anger (2003)’ and ‘Death Magnet (2008)’.
Ulrich starred in the HBO film ‘Hemingway & Gellhorn’ in 2012, and also starred in the film ‘Mission to Lars’ that year. It was a documentary about a disabled man’s encounter with Metallica.
Significant Works OF Lars
Ulrich’s most notable accomplishments during his lifetime include founding Metallica and serving as the band’s drummer for two decades. All of his musical recognition has come as a result of the success of his heavy metal American band.
Personal History and Legacies
Ulrich was married twice – the first time to Debbie Jones, an English woman he met on one of his 1988 tours. The marriage lasted only two years due to Ulrich’s constant involvement with Metallica.
He married Skylar Satenstein, a physician, for the second time in 1997 but divorced her in 2004. Miles and Layne are the couple’s two children. Miles is a member of the band ‘My Missing Half’ as a drummer.
Between 2004 and 2012, he dated Danish actress Connie Nielsen and had two children with her: Bryce Thadeus Ulrich-Nielsen and Sebastian.
Estimated Net Worth
Lars Ulrich is a $350 million Danish musician, producer, and songwriter. Lars Ulrich amassed his fortune as one of the band Metallica’s founding members.
Ulrich became the first Dane to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, when Metallica was inducted.
Trivia
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 alongside his band Metallica, making him the first Danish musician to do so.
Ulrich was a fan of the British heavy metal band ‘Diamond Head’ when he was younger and traveled from San Francisco to London to see them perform live.