Heavy metal band Metallica hails from the United States. James Hetfield (vocals/guitar) and Lars Ulrich (drums) started the band in Los Angeles in 1981, however the group has spent the most of its existence in the Bay Area. One of the “big four” bands of thrash metal along with Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer due to their rapid tempos, instrumentals, and violent musicianship. Hetfield and Ulrich, the band’s original members, create the majority of the songs, while veteran lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo round out the current roster. They’ve had guitarist Dave Mustaine, who established Megadeth after being dismissed, and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton, and Jason Newsted.

In 1986, Metallica released Master of Puppets, widely considered their finest album and one of the hardest metal albums of all time. Metallica received their first Grammy Award nomination for their album…And Justice for All (1988). Metallica’s self-titled fifth album from 1991 was their first not to be primarily rooted in thrash metal, and it was a huge financial success, selling over 16 million copies in the United States to date and becoming the best-selling album of the SoundScan period. Metallica’s ninth studio album, Death Magnetic (2008), saw the band return to its thrash metal origins and was received with the same critical acclaim as the band’s earlier releases despite the band’s experimentation with new genres and directions in previous releases. After this, in 2016, they released Hardwired… to Self-Destruct, and in 2023, they plan to release 72 Seasons, their 11th studio album.

In 2000, Metallica spearheaded a lawsuit against the P2P file-sharing site Napster, in which the band and other artists accused Napster of illegally distributing their copyright-protected work without permission. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, a critically praised documentary released in 2004, followed the band during the turbulent development of their eighth studio album, St. Anger (2003), and the band’s internal issues at the time. Metallica entered the Hall of Fame in 2009, and their music is considered classic rock. Metallica: Through the Never was a concert film released in 2013 that featured the band performing live against a fictitious thriller scenario, and in which the band members also produced the screenplay and appeared with Dane DeHaan.

Metallica has put out 10 studio albums, 4 live albums (2 of which feature the San Francisco Symphony), 12 video albums, a cover album, 2 EPs, 37 singles, and 39 music videos. The band’s past six studio albums (starting with Metallica) have all debuted at the top of the Billboard 200. They have won nine Grammy Awards out of a total of twenty-three nominations. As of 2018, Metallica has sold over 125 million records worldwide, making them one of the most commercially successful bands of all time. Publications like Rolling Stone have included Metallica on their lists of the best artists of all time, placing them at number 61 on their own 100 Greatest Artists of All Time list. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Metallica has sold 58 million albums in the United States since the company began keeping sales records in 1991. This makes them the third best-selling music artist of all time.