Happy Birthday LARS ULRICH (video)

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Lars Ulrich (born December 26, 1963) is a Danish drummer and one of the founding members of American heavy metal band Metallica. He was born in Gentofte, Denmark to an upper-middle-class family. A tennis player in his youth (he is the son of former tennis pro Torben Ulrich), Ulrich was originally a drummer in San Francisco. He then moved to Los Angeles at age sixteen in the summer of 1980 to train in the sport of tennis; though rather than playing tennis, he began playing the drums. After publishing an advertisement in a local Los Angeles newspaper called The Recycler, Ulrich met James Hetfield and formed Metallica.

In 1981, Ulrich discovered British heavy metal band Diamond Head. He was excited about the band's style of music after purchasing their debut album Lightning to the Nations (1980). He traveled from San Francisco to London to see the band perform live at the Woolwich Odeon. Ulrich remains a fan of Diamond Head and mixed its album The Best of Diamond Head. Upon returning to America, Ulrich placed an ad in a local newspaper looking for musicians to start a band with him. James Hetfield replied to the ad, and Metallica was formed.

He got the name "Metallica" from a friend, Ron Quintana, who was brainstorming names for a heavy metal fanzine he was creating, and Metallica was one of the options, the other being "Metal Mania". Lars encouraged him to choose Metal Mania, and used the name Metallica for himself. He became known as a pioneer of fast thrash drum beats, featured on many of Metallica's early songs, such as "Metal Militia" from Kill 'Em All, "Fight Fire with Fire" from Ride the Lightning, "Battery" and "Damage Inc." from Master of Puppets and "Dyers Eve" from ...And Justice for All. He has since been considerably influential due to both the popularity of his band, as well as his drum techniques, such as the double bass drum in the song "One" (...And Justice for All) and the opening of "Enter Sandman" (Metallica). Since the release of Metallica, Ulrich adopted a less focused and simplified style of drumming, and reduced his kit from a 9-piece to a 7-piece.

source: wikipedia

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