Legend Confirmed: Metallica Contemplated Firing Lars Ulrich in the 80s

If you’re a Metallica fan, chances are you’ve heard the longstanding legend that the band considered sacking Lars Ulrich back in the day. Well, it ain’t a legend no more — Kirk Hammett done went and confirmed it to Albany radio station PYX 106:

“You know, that was just an old thing, you know. I think at one point or another, we were pissed off at Lars, around maybe 1985 or something. We were unhappy and we might have grumbled something to someone. And then that person might have picked up on it and made it something a lot bigger than it actually was… To be completely honest, [Lars] has a lot of drive, and that’s a part of the reason why I love the man. His drive and his motivation is just so intense, you know.”

Hammett did not address the second part of the rumor, which was that the band couldn’t fire Ulrich because he owns the name “Metallica.” But that’s not surprising — for the sake of avoiding any awkwardness, it’s much better to dismiss it as “Oh were just bellyaching” than “Yeah but we literally couldn’t.” I’d still be curious to know, though; hopefully one of these dudes spills in the beans when they write a memoir in another ten or twenty years.

[via]