Lars Ulrich’s Father Torben Ulrich Dead at 95
A sad bit of news broke late last night out of the Metallica camp, as drummer Lars Ulrich announced that his father Torben Ulrich passed away. He was 95 years old.
In a post on Metallica’s official social media accounts, Ulrich shared a touching tribute to his late father. In it, he described a man who seemingly lived an extremely eventful life, having been a famous Danish pro tennis player in his own right.
“Torben Ulrich: 1928-2023. 95 years of adventures, unique experiences, curiosity, pushing boundaries, challenging the status quo, tennis, music, art, writing….and quite a bit of Danish contrarian attitude. Thank you endlessly! I love you dad.”
Metalheads the world over got their first taste of the elder Ulrich’s “contrarian attitude” in the Some Kind Of Monster documentary, which chronicled the recording of 2003’s St. Anger and the turmoil within the band. During one scene, Torben listens to one of the songs being written for the maligned record, only to starkly tell his son, “I would delete that.” Moments later, he would tell an obviously uncomfortable Lars, “for me, it doesn’t cut it. It sounds like a guy shouting in some kind of echo chamber.”
And while most people know Torben for his acerbic commentary on one of the worst metal albums ever, it should be noted that he was naturally a massive Metallica fan. He was well known to support his son’s adventures in the metal world from a young age and was very close with the rest of the band.
Torben Ulrich was not only a pro tennis player, but he also had a musical streak of his own, writing about jazz in Copenhagen and eventually recorded a jazz record in 2021 titled Oakland Moments: Cello, Voice, Reuniting (Rejoicing). Throughout his life, he was also known to be a poet, a painter, a filmmaker, and a performer, as well as an athlete.
Losing a parent is never easy, so it’s with that in mind that we offer our condolences to the Ulrich family, Torben’s friends, and the rest of the Metallica camp currently grieving their loss.
