Metallics history

November 18, 1962, San Francisco, California), and bassist Cliff Burton (b.

March 4, 1963, Battle Creek, Michigan) took over on bass after Burton was killed in a tour bus accident.

Shows were for fan club members only with the decidedly 1981 ticket price of $6 followed closely by the release of four previously unavailable tracks from the Death Magnetic sessions as the Beyond Magnetic EP, first through iTunes and then on CD and vinyl.

East Coast metal merchant Jon Zazula pitched the band on an album deal with his indie label Megaforce Records and 1983 found them traveling to New York in a stolen U-Haul to record their first album.

Metallica released Ride the Lightning in 1984, an album that shattered notions of what defined heavy metal.

The new lineup debuted on …And Justice for All (1988), an album that included “One,” the group’s first Top 40 single.

In 1991, Metallica released their self-titled album – better known by fans as The Black Album.

Live Sh**: Binge and Purge , Elektra, 1993.

Aside from 1994’s 51 date Shit Hits the Sheds tour, time was spent regrouping and recovering from the relentlessness of their recent past, as well as writing the next Metallica album.

It opened to the public in 1995.

Load was released in June 1996, and heralded a deeper exploration of the band’s musical style.

Loose, powerful and a confident step away from The Black Album, Load sold five million-plus copies; so many strong songs were written, that a second album, Reload, came in 1997.

1998 saw the band collect their covers from the two previous Garage Days sessions and various b-sides as well as slamming down 11 brand new covers with the subsequent Garage, Inc. double disc release a reminder of their musical lives and loves.

The year 2000 kicked off with a short arena tour in the Midwest and the summer brought the US stadium headlining tour Summer Sanitarium.

In January 2001 Newsted left the group, leaving Metallica without a bassist once again.

When the band reconvened in the spring of 2002, a new energy and verve was in place as communications were re-established on all levels, and with Rock on bass as well as producing, St Anger was the first album made at their new HQ studio.

When he emerged from rehab, the band began recording their next album, St Anger, which was released in mid–2003.

Grammy Award for best metal performance, Recording Academy, for "St Anger," 2004.

The break saw Metallica once again re-evaluate their creative options, and thus in early 2006 they decided to make the new album with a new producer, Rick Rubin, who encouraged the band to go back to their early roots.

Annex NYC, a branch of the museum that focused on New York City’s contributions to rock culture, opened in Manhattan in November 2008 but closed a little more than a year later, when its financial viability was undermined by the struggling United States economy of the time.

In 2009 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

On November 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia Metallica played the last show of the World Magnetic tour, before heading home for a spot of hibernation, and a planned “gap” year of recuperation…

Thus work began in late April at HQ and the subsequent album, Lulu, was released on October 31, 2011.

2012 saw the band casually announce that they were producing their own live music festival, Orion Music + More on June 23rd and 24th in Atlantic City, a visionary mixture of genres and the band member’s own cultural tastes reflected over two days.

Until December 8, 2013, when the band performed at the Carlini Base under a custom-built Geo-dome in front of a small group of Coca-Cola contest winners and the community scientists.

2014 saw Metallica continuing to work on a series of ideas for the forthcoming album whilst also continuing to seek new challenges.

Hardwired…to Self-Destruct (2016), another two-disc release, was a return to form that won over many critics.

Producer Greg Fidelman was in to help the process hit full speed and, rather than wait until 2017, the release of Hardwired…To Self-Destruct was pushed up to November 18th.

2018 saw WorldWired finish up its European arena tour between February and May before sending the boys on a rare three-month summer vacation.

Throughout much of 2019, the band was also tackling a challenge closer to home.