February 10, 1962: Cliff Burton is born.
November 18, 1962: Kirk Hammett is born  in San Francisco
March 4, 1963: Jason Newsted is born in Battle Creek, MI.
August 3, 1963: Jaymz Alan Hetfield is  born in Los Angeles
December 26, 1963:Lars Ulrich is born in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he lives until the late  '70s. When his parents decide to move to Newport Beach, in the vicinity of Los  Angeles.
1973:Lars, at age 9, goes to his first concert, when Deep Purple played in  Copenhagen. He enjoys the concert so much he starts to collect albums by Black  Sabbath and Thin Lizzy. Later he discovers the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy  Metal). He then discovers bands like Iron Maiden, Saxon, Sweet Savage and  Diamond Head, which influenced his musical direction.
Late 1976: Lars get his first drum kit
1980:Ulrich, now 17 flies to  Britain to Diamond Head, his favorite band, play. He meets the singer Sean  Harris and he hangs with the band for a month. He soon learns about the band  Mercyful Fate, another band in the NWOBHM. He returns to Los Angeles to try and  make his own NWOBHM band.
Early 1981: Lars puts an ad in a paper  called The Recycler, trying to find musicians to make a band with. Jaymz, who  put an ad in the same paper, gets together with Lars for a jam session. Lars  listens to some of his NWOBHM records getting Jaymz into the type of music. The  two of them decide to form a band. Desperate for a good band name, they dismiss  all the cliché options like Grinder, Blitzer, and Red Vette, and settle on the  name METALLICA, which Lars steals from a fanzine editor friend.
Late 1981:Metallica puts a song a on  compilation LP called Metal Massacre 1, featuring metal bands from the L.A.  area. The song they put on the album was called "Hit The Lights" (sound  familiar?). The band at that time was Lars on the drums, Jaymz on rhythm guitar,  bass and vocals, and Lloyd Grant, on the lead guitar.
January 1982:Metallica picks up Dave  Mustain, a friend of Jaymz, which plays lead guitar. Around the same time  Metallica picks up Ron McGovney, Hetfield's roommate, to play bass.
March 1982: Metallica opens for Saxon  at Whiskey A Go Go in L.A.. The show was a hit, consisting of covers by Diamond  Head, Savage, and Sweet Savage. A bootleg of this show is one of the most  sought-after tapes on the trading market.
April 1982:Metallica (Jaymz, Lars, Dave,  and Ron) record a 4-song demo featuring "Hit The Lights," "The Mechanix," "Jump  In The Fire" and "Motorbreath." sowing the seeds for Metallica's next demo.
May 28, 1982: Metallica opens as a 5  piece at The Concert Factory in L.A. with Lars, Dave, Ron, Jaymz only singing,  and Jeff Warner on rhythm guitar, the band doesn't work because Dave wouldn't  allow Jeff to play lead. The band discards Jeff, going back to their first  line-up.
July 1982: Metallica records "No Life  'Till Leather," featuring the songs from their first demo as well as "Metal  Militia," "Seek And Destroy," and "Phantom Lord"  After this demo the metal  underground considers Metallica "Gods"
August 1982:Cliff Burton and his band  Trauma, play at the Whiskey A Go Go, Where Jaymz and Lars first see the  blessed-demon. They are so impressed with Cliff that they want him to be in  Metallica. He refuses. later on that year Cliff agrees to join only if Metallica  relocate to San Francisco.
September 18, 1982: Metallica establish  a strong following by playing at the Keystone in San Francisco, with the bands  on the Metal Massacre 1 compilation. Metallica play all 7 songs off of "No Life 'Till Leather," and two Diamond Head songs, leaving the 200-or-so people to  attend in complete shock. Soon afterwards playing all over San Francisco.
October 1982: Metallica support Laaz  Rockit in San Francisco.
November 29, 1982: Metallica play as  the headliner in the Bay Area. The supporting act was Exodus featuring Kirk  Hammett, 20 years old at the time.
November 30, 1982: Metallica plays  their last concert with Ron at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco.
December 1982: Jaymz, Lars, and Dave  move to San Francisco, moving in at 3132 Carlson Boulevard, the home of soundman  Mark Whitaker.
January 1983: Johny "Z" Zazula, a  record store owner/concert promoter in New Jersey invites Metallica to come do  some shows on the East Coast.
February 15, 1983: Metallica complete  their move to San Francisco, Lars and Jaymz share a place with Mark, while Dave  ends up at Mark's grandmother's.
Late February, 1983: Metallica now with  Cliff record a two track demo featuring the songs "No Remorse"and "Whiplash"
March 5, 1983: Metallica plays first  show with Cliff at the Stone in San Francisco.
Late March, 1983: Metallica, with Mark  make a 3,000+ miles trip to the East Coast. On the way over Metallica and Dave  have many arguments, mostly because of Dave's alcohol intake.
April 1983: In New York, Jaymz and Lars  decide to kick Dave out of the band. Following a series of show with Vandenberg  and The Rods on the East Coast, Dave gets sent home via Greyhound bus, and Kirk  Hammett of Exodus is flown in as a replacement.
May 10-27, 1983:Metallica records "Kill Em  All" in the Barrett Alley Studios in Rochester, New York.
July 1983: "Kill Em All" is released on Megaforce Records in the USA, and Music For Nations  and Roadrunner in Europe.
July 27-September 3, 1983: Metallica  start their first tour with label mates Raven, which starts in New Brunswick and  ends with a sold-out show at the stone in San Francisco.
December 1983: Metallica starts work  for their second album in New Jersey. The songs put together were "Fade To  Black" "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and "Trapped Under Ice" On the weekends,  Metallica plays a series of headlining shows with Anthrax, After the last show,  most of Metallica's gear gets stolen.
Early February 1984:Metallica embark on the Seven  Dates Of Hell tour supporting Venom. The highlight of the tour is at the  Aardschok festival in Zwolle, Holland, where they played in front of 5,000 fans.
Late February 1984: Metallica goes to  Copenhagen, where they stay at Mercyful Fate's rehearsal rooms, where they work  on tracks for the next album. The band joins with producer Flemming Rasmussen at  Sweet Silence Studios in the same building to begin recording the LP
March 1984: Metallica takes a break  from recording their next album to head to England, where Music For Nations has  organized a tour as support to The Rods. However, as soon as the band arrive in  the UK, they learn that the tour had been cancelled because of poor advance  ticket sales. Un-able to re-enter Sweet Silence to complete work on the LP,  Metallica plays two sold out shows at the Marquee club in London on March 14 and  27.
June 1984: Metallica finish work on  Ride The Lightning an play four show with Twisted Sister.
August 1984:Metallca play a showcase gig  in New York, featuring Anthrax (openers) and Raven (headliners). Attending the  show are Cliff Burnsteind, co-founder of Q-Prime Managemant, and Michael Alago,  A&R director, of Elektra Records, both of whom walk away suitably impressed with  Metallica. Soon, Metallica becomes part of Q-Prime Management, as well as  recording artist for Elektra. Initially issued through the Megaforce label, Ride  The Lightning is eventually re-released through Elektra.
November 18-December 20, 1984:Metallica start first major  European tour, with Tank supporting, in Paris, France, and ending at the Lyceum  in London. An average of 1,300 fans turns up for each show.
Early 1985:The first three months of the  year are spent co-heading with W.A.S.P., with Armored Saint supporting. Then  Metallica play as the Headliners.
May-July, 1985: Metallica take a break  before starting work on new album
August, 1985:On the 17, Metallica play in  between Ratt and Bon Jovi at the Castle Donnington festival in England, in front  of 70,000 people. A week latter they perform in front of 90,000 people in  Oakland, California at the Days On The Green festival. The next day, Lars goes  to Copenhagen to start working on drum tracks for the next album, joining up  with the rest of the crew a few days later.
September 14, 1985:Metallica play a new song  called "Disposable Heroes" at the Metal Hammer festival in Germany.
December 27, 1985: Metallica finish  Master Of Puppets and go back to San Francisco
New Year's Eve, 1986:Metallica plays the Civic  Center in San Francisco, with Megadeth (first and last time), Metal Church and  Exodus.
January, 1986: Master Of Puppets is  mixed in L.A. under guidance of Michael Wagenar, followed by a press tour of  Europe, which Lars takes care of. While Lars talks about the record across the  Atlantic, Jaymz and Cliff form a band called Spastic Children, featuring Fred  Cotton on vocals, Jack McDaniel on guitar, Cliff on Bass, and Jaymz drumming.
February, 1986:Jaymz and Lars head to the  Bahamas for a break after the release of Master Of Puppets.
March, 1986:Master Of Puppets gets  released, then a tour in the states supporting Ozzy, beginning on March 27.
June 26, 1986: Jaymz breaks a wrist  trying to skateboard down a hill. All dates remaining on the tour had Jaymz only  singing while Kirk's roadie, John Marshall is on rhythm.
September 10, 1986: Metallica headline  London's legendary Hammersmith Odeon, with Anthrax supporting.
September 27, 1986:Cliff Burton is killed in a  bus crash on the way to Copenhagen.
October, 1986: The rest of the band  returns to America with disbelief. Soon the group starts to audition new  bassists. Jason Newsted from Flotsam & Jetsam fills the place.
November 8, 1986:Metallica play first show  with Jason at the Country Club in L.A.
November 9-14, 1986: Metallica begins a  tour with Metal Church supporting in Canada and the East Coast of America.
January-February, 1987:Metallica and Metal Church  tour Europe, playing East Europe for the first time, ending in Gothenburg,  Sweden on February 13.
May 1987:Jaymz breaks his arm  skateboarding, for a while playing Europe's annual Monsters Of Rock festival in  August becomes questionable.
August, 1987:Metallica warm up for  Monsters Of Rock at London's 100 club. Metallica plays 3 shows at Donnington,  Nurnberg and Pfordsheim in front of 200,000 people, afterwards they release  Garage Days Re-Revisited.
December 4, 1987: Metallica put out a  video titled "Cliff Em All" a tribute to Cliff. with a collection of bootleg and  unprofessional recordings show during 1982-86. Within 2 months it goes both  platinum and gold. By the end of 1988 it becomes the year's top-selling music  home video.
January 19, 1988:Metallica officially begin  recording their fourth album, ...And Justice For All.
May, 1988:Metallica complete recording  process of And Justice For All and begin mixing while preparing 2 month tour as  part of the US Monsters Of Rock package. May 27 tour begins in East Troy,  Wisconsin.
July, 1988: Master Of Puppets goes  platinum
September 5, 1988: ...And Justice For All  is released
September 11, 1988:Metallica play a sold out  show in Budapest, Hungary supporting their new album.
November 15, 1988:US tour begins in Toledo,  Ohio, with Queensryche opening
December 6, 1988:The band film their fir-ever  video "One" in L.A. a day before the first of their two-night appearance at the  Long Beach Arena.
February 5, 1989: Metallica's show at  the Reunion Arena in Dallas is broadcast nationally via the Z-Rock radio  network.
February 22, 1989: Metallica play "One"  on national TV as part of the Grammy Awards, where the band was nominated in the  Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Group. But lost to Jethro Tull.
April 21, 1989:The Cult take Queensryche's  place on Metallica's tour.
October 8, 1989:Metallica ends their Damaged  Justice tour in Sao Paulo, Brazil
January, 1990: Metallica record the  Queen song "Stone Cold Crazy" to go on a compilation LP celebrating Elektra  Records' 40-year Anniversary.
May, 1990: Metallica play several  European festivals alongside WarriorSoul and Dio. A couple impromptu appearances  at London's Hippodrome and a secret gig at The Marquee (under the name Vertigo).
June, 1990: Metallica play a few  stadium shows with Aerosmith and Warrant in northern New York and Canada.
July-September, 1990: Metallica begin  work on their 5th album.
Early October, 1990: Metallica enter  One On One Studios in L.A. with producer Bob Rock to begin recording 12 songs  for their next album.
October, 1990 - July, 1991: Metallica  and Bob Rock make sure Metallica's next album sounds exactly how they want it.  The LP is remixed 3 times.
August 12, 1991:"The Black Album" is  released, within a week of release, it sells over 600,000 units in the US alone,  debuting at #1 on the Billboard Pop Chart and stays there for a month.
1991-1993: After "The Black Album" is  released, the band plays more than 300 shows in 37 countries.
February 1991:Metallica wins a Grammy for  "Best Heavy Metal Performance" for their rendition of Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy"  From Elektra's Rubaiyat compilation
Summer 1992: Metallica tour with Guns N  Roses
Summer 1994:Shit in the Sheds tour!
October 1994:: Lars and Jaymz begin work on Load
February 15, 1995: Metallica shows up  to play for KNAC-FM, because it was the stations last day on the radio.
February 1995: Metallica and Bob Rock  enter The Plant in Sausalito, California to begin recording load. They come up  with enough to fill a double album and debate on what to do, they decide to  release load as a 70 minute long CD and wait a year to release the other CD.
December 14, 1995: Metallica honor  Lemmy from Motorhead at his birthday bash at the Whisky. They play under the  name "The Lemmys" and perform a set of Motorhead covers dressed as Lemmy.
June 4, 1996: Load is released.
June, 1996:Metallapalooza begins with  Metallica and Soundgarden as the Headliners and others supporting the tour,  bands such as the Ramones, and Rancid.
Summer/Fall 1996:Metallica Tours Europe
November 13, 1996:Metallica recorded 3 live  songs for the TV program "Later With Jools Holland," on the British channel  BBC2. Among the songs were "Wasting My Hate" "Mama Said" and "King Nothing"  They played the songs live. It was broadcast on November 16th.
November 14, 1996:Metallica tricked MTV Europe  at their Video Awards show. Metallica was supposed to play "King Nothing"and as  the lights went down and the band started playing "Last Caress"and "So What?"  leaving the people that hated them dazed and the fans going crazy. The band was  nominated for "Best Rock Video" but lost to the Smashing Pumpkins. Jaymz later  said in an interview "We needed to wake people up at the show! We felt it was a  little boring, and we had been daring each other to do that for years"
November 18, 1996: The single Mama Said  is released world wide.
November 18 & 19, 1996:Apocalyptica opens for  Metallica in Helsinki, Finland.
January 17, 1997: King Nothing  premiered on MTV.
January 26, 1997: Lars got married to  his long time girlfriend Skylar. Lars had told everyone that they weren't going  to so no one would interupt the marriage.
January 27, 1997:MetallicA performed "King  Nothing" on the AMA and won best metal/hard rock album. During the thanks, Lars  said, "I would like to thank this man, James Hetfield, for putting on his best  suit and being my best man at my wedding last night."
February 22, 1997:Ted Nugent was guest star at  the show at Palace Of Auburn Hills. They weren't too happy with him for what he  did. Ted basically forced his way into their show, then ruined everything.
August 22-24, 1997: Metallica took a  break from recording to play 3 festivals in Europe. First day was at the  Pukkelpop festival in Hasselt, Belgium. Second Day was at the Blindman's Ball  Festival, Stuttgart, Germany. The third was at the Reading Festival, Reading,  U.K.
October 6, 1997:In order to promote ReLoad  Metallica wanted to hold a free concert, but they didn't know where at. They  gave the fans a few details and a 800 telephone number where they could call in  to make suggestions. The show had to be on Tuesday, November 11 (Veteran's Day),  outdoors. Because this had to be a free concert for anyone wishing to make the  trip. Over 120,000 Metallica fans called in.
October 10, 1997: Anton Corbijn took pictures of Metallica live for the booklet for ReLoad. There  was also two more photo shoots after the release, for press use.
October 18, 1997: Metallica played an  entirely acoustic the 11th Annual Bridge School Benefit Shows at Shoreline  Amphitheater, San Francisco. The set around a hour. On Friday Alice in Chains'  Jerry Cantrellcame out to play with Metallica for the song "Tuesdays Gone" by  Lynrd Skynrd. Metallica also played Lowman's Lyrics for the first time. On  Saturday Metallica played the second Annual Bridge School Benefit Show as well.  The sets were the same except they didn't play Low Mans Lyric, instead they  played another new tune called "My Eye's"
October 20 & 21, 1997: The band shot  the "Memory remains" video at the Van Nuys Airport in L.A.. It cost Metallica  around $400.000.00. Which featured Metallica in a huge revolving box that cost  them around $100.000.00. The video premiered on November 15, 1997 on MTV's  Mattrock.
October 26, 1997:The final day for the fans to  call in to suggest a place for Metallica to play the free concert. Metallica  wound up playing in the CoreStates Arena parking lot in Philadelphia.
November 7, 1997: South Philadelphians  that didn't want the concert to go on went court to try to stop the free outdoor  concert. Vincent Fumo asked his lawyer, Christopher Craig, to see what he could  do. Craig spent all day drafting a request for an injunction that he delivered  to Common Pleas.
November 11, 1997: Metallica's free  concert, called the "Million Decibel March," was a great. They opened up with  Jaymz playing the famous ESPN Sportscenter music on his guitar. a local  newspapaer called the Philadelphia Inquirer said this about the show: "It was  part burlesque show, part rugby match, and hearing-loss loud. The band was  profane on stage and charming before the show. Police pronounced the fans better  behaved than a Philadelphia Eagles crowd. And neighbors who feared the worst  from the self-styled Loudest Band in the World complained more about the sound  from the news choppers circling overhead."
November 12, 1997:Memory Remains single  released in America.
November 13, 1997:Metallica play a free show at  London's premier dance venue Ministry Of Sound to promote "Re-Load." After the  show Lars said "I've never heard of the Ministry Of Sound but I'm sure Metallica  playing there will make it a hit!"
December 6, 1997:Metallica performed live on  Saturday Night Live.
March 1998: The tour in supporting Reload will start in Asia. They will visit Australia as  well.
March 1998: The live film will be  completed in March 1998. 52 minutes of the film will be available for launch  parties worldwide, completed with personalized IDs. The band have said that they  may consider use of the promotional film for TV broadcasts.
September 13, 1998:Metallica ends his 'Reload'  tour in San Diego, CA and begins the record of their new CD.
November 24, 1998: The double CD called  'Garage Inc.' is released all over the world. The first CD contains songs from  Bob Seger, Diamond Head, Black Sabbath, Discharge, The Misfists, Nick Cave, Blue  Oyster Cult, Thin Lizzy and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The second CD contains old cover  songs. 
December 8,1998: The new DVD/ VHS video will be released. It's called  'Cunning Stunts'.
April 11, 1999:Metallica begins back their world tour. They play few dates in USA.
April 21 & 22, 1999: Metallica played  with the SF symphony at the Berkeley Community Center.
April 30, 1999:Metallica are back in South America. 'The garage remains the same' tour  has begun.
May 21, 1999: Metallica is in Europe for the summer. They will play around Europe and for some  hot open air festivals.
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