Lars Ulrich
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lars Ulrich | |
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 Lars Ulrich performing live in 2004
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| Background information | |
| Born | December 26, 1963 Gentofte, Denmark |
| Genre(s) | Heavy metal, thrash metal, hard rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Drums |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Associated acts | Metallica |
| Website | www.metallica.com |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Tama drums Zildjian cymbals Ahead sticks Remo drum heads |
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Lars Ulrich (born December 26, 1963) is the drummer, main songwriter (with James Hetfield) and co-founder of Metallica. He was born in Gentofte, Denmark to a middle-class family. A tennis prodigy in his youth, Ulrich moved to Los Angeles, California at age seventeen to pursue his training, but instead of playing tennis, he ended up as a drummer. After publishing an advertisement in a local Los Angeles newspaper called The Recycler, he met James Hetfield and formed Metallica.
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[edit] Biography
Lars' father, Torben Ulrich, who was an acclaimed tennis pro from the late 1970s into the early 1980s, was also a musician, playing jazz with such giants as Stan Getz and Miles Davis; legendary saxophonist Dexter Gordon is Ulrich's godfather. In February 1973, Torben Ulrich obtained five passes for five of his friends to a Deep Purple concert that was being held in the same Copenhagen stadium as one of his tournaments. When it was discovered that one of the friends could not go, their ticket was handed over to the nine year-old Lars. The young Ulrich found himself mesmerized by the performance, buying the band's Fireball album the very next day. The concert and the album had a considerable impact on Ulrich, inspiring his entrance into the world of rock and roll and later on, heavy metal. As a result of his newfound interest in music, he received his first drum kit at the age of thirteen, a Ludwig.
In 1981, Ulrich met James Hetfield in Downey, California and formed the thrash metal band Metallica. Ulrich's early work with Metallica led him to be dubbed as one of the thrash metal scene's drumming greats. He became known as a pioneer of fast thrash drum beats and techniques, featured on many of Metallica's early songs, such as "Metal Militia" from Kill 'Em All, "Fight Fire With Fire" from Ride the Lightning, "Dyers Eve" from ...And Justice for All, and "Battery" from Master of Puppets. He has since been considerably influential due to both the popularity of his band and his interesting drum techniques, such as the machine-gun double bass in the song "One" (...And Justice for All) and the pounding opening of "Enter Sandman" (Metallica). When discussing Metallica in an October 2007 interview, Evile frontman Matt Drake stated that "on The Black Album [otherwise known as the group's eponymous 1991 album], the drums produce the best drum sound I've ever heard on any album".[1]
[edit] Napster controversy
In April 2000, Ulrich became a vocal opponent of Napster and internet piracy as Metallica sued the company for copyright infringement and racketeering. In July 2000, he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee after Metallica's entire catalogue was found to be freely available for download on the service. The case was settled out-of-court, resulting in more than 300,000 Napster users being banned from the service.[2] Due to his high profile role in Napster's legal troubles and subsequent demise, Ulrich faced significant criticism and ridicule from users of the service.[3] Since the Napster ordeal, Ulrich was quoted by LAUNCHcast as having some regrets:[4]
| “ | I wish that I was more...you know, I felt kind of ambushed by the whole thing because I didn't really know enough about what we were getting ourselves into when we jumped. [...] We didn't know enough about the kind of grassroots thing, and what had been going on the last couple of months in the country as this whole new phenomenon was going on. We were just so stuck in our controlling ways of wanting to control everything that had to do with METALLICA. So we were caught off guard and we had a little bit of a rougher landing on that one than on other times than when we just blindly leap. But you know, I'm still proud of the fact that we did leap... and I took a lot of hits and it was difficult. | ” |
[edit] Personal life
Lars Ulrich has been married twice. His first marriage, to Debbie, an English woman, ended around 1990 during the making of Metallica also known as "The Black Album".[citation needed] In March 2004, Ulrich separated from Skylar Satenstein (an emergency medicine physician and Harvard graduate who was the inspiration for Skylar, the love interest for Will Hunting in the movie Good Will Hunting), to whom he was previously married for seven years and had two sons, Myles (b. August 5, 1998) and Layne (b. May 6, 2001).
Ulrich is dating Danish actress Connie Nielsen and they had their first child, Bryce Thadeus Ulrich-Nielsen, born in San Francisco on May 21 2007.[5] Nielsen also has another son named Sebastian (b. 1991).
[edit] Equipment
Ulrich is an endorser of Tama drums, Zildjian cymbals and Remo drumheads. He has said: "Zildjian cymbals are not just the best cymbals, but the ONLY cymbals". He is rarely, if ever, seen without these brands onstage. He has, however, been known to use a mixture of brands when recording in the studio, including Ludwig-Musser drums, Gretsch drums and Sabian cymbals. Ulrich was an endorsee of Calato Regal Tip drumsticks, but changed to Easton Ahead in 1994. Tama Drums has produced two signature snare drums, one with a steel shell (with diamond plate-like finish) and another made out of bell brass which currently is Tama's most expensive snare drum on the regular catalogue. Both snare drums measure 6.5x14.
[edit] Trivia
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- In 2005 a band called Beatallica (a band that mixed lyrics and riffs from The Beatles and Metallica) received a cease-and-desist order from Sony (who hold a lot of the rights to the music of the Beatles). In support of Beatallica, Ulrich asked Metallica's attorney, Peter Paterno, to help Beatallica. Since then beatallica.com has been online.
- For many years Ulrich has been an avid scuba diver, to the extent that he has been known to read scuba diving magazines during solo breaks between songs while touring.[citation needed]
- Ulrich played the drums with Mercyful Fate for the re-recording of the song "Return of the Vampire" on In the Shadows.[citation needed]
- Ulrich is lactose intolerant.[6]
- On Linkin Park's live CD/DVD Live in Texas, during "From the Inside", Ulrich appears on stage wearing pink bunny ears and Hulk Hands and proceeds to mess with the band for a few brief seconds. In the ending credits on the DVD, he is credited as the "Green-Fisted Bunnyman".
- His name is mentioned in "Weird Al" Yankovic's 2006 single "Don't Download This Song", in reference to Ulrich's anti-Napster stance.
- Johnny Crass also made a few mentions of Ulrich in the song "Internet Sandman", a parody of Metallica's song "Enter Sandman".
- Ulrich is a huge fan of popular British rock band Oasis and has become acquainted with them over the years. In November 2006, Canadian music magazine Exclaim! published an interview with Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher. Gallagher makes several references to Ulrich and is quoted as saying, "Lars Ulrich? Although he’s a fookin’ geezer and I do love him, he’s a strange character. A strange, strange man."[7]
- He is a big fan of the British rock band Status Quo and wrote the foreword for their 40th Anniversary book.[citation needed]
- Lars recently played the drums at the Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy Tour 2006 for a one-off appearance on one of their closing songs, playing "Out Ta Get Me".[8]
- Ulrich was featured in an episode of South Park in which the children are taught not to download illegally because millionaires like Ulrich do not get paid (a parody of the Napster case). Ulrich is seen looking very sorry for himself because he had to wait a few extra months before he was able to afford a gold plated shark tank bar to be installed next to his pool.[citation needed]
- Lars was mentioned in an episode of My Name Is Earl in which Earl and Joy went to a Metallica concert for their honeymoon, which Earl was supposed to go to with another woman. Joy says during the brief scene, "Lars signed my baby-bump," and proceeds to show it to Earl's girlfriend, whom he was originally supposed to go to the concert with. Lars's actual signature is used when Joy has her pregnant belly signed.[citation needed]
- In 2001 Lars appeared on an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and won 32,000 dollars for his charity foundation.[9]
- In the movie The Prince and Me, Lars is quickly referenced for his birth in Denmark.[citation needed]
- Lars did a voice for a cartoon dragon in an episode of the Disney Channel show Dave the Barbarian[citation needed]
- Lars and Metallica were in an episode of The Simpsons where they needed a lift to a live concert. Mole Man gave them a ride, and mentioned that he had "slept with Lars's grandmother."
- A fan of the Nu-Metal band Korn. He once played live with them, on the song "Blind".[citation needed]
- Nerdcore rapper MC Lars mentions him in the song Hurricane Fresh, attempting to convince Ulrich that their same first names prove MC Lars to be his long lost nephew after Ulrich comes after him for illegal downloading.
- Weird Al Yankovic's "Don't Download This Song" states that you shouldn't do so because "Lars Ulrich says it's wrong".
[edit] References
[edit] Books
- Steffan Chirazi and Metallica (2004). So What!: The Good, The Mad, and The Ugly. Broadway. ISBN 0767918819.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Morgan, Anthony (2007-10). “Armoured Assault” - Evile frontman Matt Drake hails gargantuan Thrash masterpiece Enter the Grave. Lucem Fero. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
- ^ The Falcon Newspaper - Napster bans more than 300,000 for downloading Metallica
- ^ YouTube - Napster Bad
- ^ PiTRiFF Online
- ^ "METALLICA Drummer LARS ULRICH, Girlfriend CONNIE NIELSEN Expecting", Blabbermouth.net, December 6, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-18.
- ^ http://www.gymnasticsstuff.com/article-lactose-intolerance.htm
- ^ Exclaim! Canada's Music Authority
- ^ Guns N' Roses: News
- ^ YouTube - Lars Ulrich on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire"
[edit] External links
| Find more about Lars Ulrich on Wikipedia's sister projects: | |
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- Lars Ulrich's Biography on Metallica.com. Metallica.com. Retrieved on December 30, 2005.
- Lars Ulrich's St Anger Tour Setup. Tamadrum.co.jp. Retrieved on February 19, 2006.
- Lars Ulrich's Load/ReLoad/Garage Inc./S&M Tour Setup. Tama.com. Retrieved on February 19, 2006.
- Napster bans more than 300,000 for downloading Metallica. thefalcononline.com. Retrieved on June 19, 2007.
- Lars' kit setup
- Lars Ulrich Drummerworld.com profile
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