| Lars Ulrich was born on December 26, 1963, at Gentofte, Denmark. He is the drummer and co-founder of the American thrash metal band Metallica. During his childhood and teenage years, he worked at a gas station and as a paper boy. Ulrich received his first drum kit at the age of thirteen from his grandmother. It was a Ludwig drum kit similar to the one used by Ian Paice of Deep Purple.
Lars Ulrich moved to Los Angles at age seventeen to pursue a career in tennis. He published an advertisement in a newspaper called ‘The Recycler’. In October 1981, he met James Hetfield and together they formed Metallica. Lars’s father, Torben Ulrich, was a pro tennis player from the late 1940s till the early 1980s. He was also a jazz musician and played alongside jazz artists such as Stan Getz and Miles Davis. Legendary jazz artist Dexter Gordon was Lars Ulrich’s godfather. He witnessed his first live ‘Deep Purple’ show in February 1973; he was awestruck by the performance. This had a great impact on Lars and inspired him to enter the world of Rock and Roll.
Ulrich has been using both Tama drums and Zildjian cymbals, and always during live performances. He is also one of the first persons to have his own signature Tama drum kit. He used to endorse Calato Regal tip wooden sticks before moving on to Easton Ahead metal alloy drumsticks. He is known to use one wooden stick during studio recording as he prefers the sound of wood striking the cymbal. Lars Ulrich is arguably one of rock music’s greatest drummers and has been significantly influential both due to Metallica’s popularity and his own unique drumming style. |
