1962
February 10, Cliff Burton is born.
November 18, Kirk Hammett is born in San Francisco
1963
March 4, Jason Newsted, is born in Battle Creek, Michigan
August 3, Jaymz Alan Hetfield is born in Los Angeles,
December 26, 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.
1976
Lars get his first drum kit from his
Grandparents
1977
Jason's first band Diamond with Kevin
Kendrick, Todd Smiedendorf and Tom Depoy formed in Niles, MI
September James' freshman year at Downey HS; befriends Ron
McGovney
1978
James joins his first band, Obsession
1979
James quits Obsession
1980
The Ulrichs move to Los Angeles
James forms Phantom Lord with Jim Mulligan and Hugh Tanner
Ulrich, now 17 flies to Britain to Diamond Head, his favourite band, play. He meets the
singer Sean Harris and he hangs with the band for a month. He soon learns about the band
Merciful Fate, another band in the NWOBHM(New Wave Of British Heavy Metal). He returns to
Los Angeles to try and make his own NWOBHM band.
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 ( May 9 ) . 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.
October 15 METALLICA FORMED (Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield)
October 31 Jason Newsted and Tom Hamlin relocate to Phoenix.
Fall Metallica (briefly including guitarist, Lloyd Grant) cuts "Hit
the Lights", Which ends up on a local, independent compilation, Metal Massacre.
 1982
January 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 Band records 3 song demo; one original song: Hit The Lights; and two
covers: Killing Time and Let It Loose
March 14 First Metallica gig at Radio City, Anaheim, CA
Set:
Hit the Lights
Blitzkrieg
Helpless
Jump In the Fire
Let it Loose
Am I Evil?
The Prince
Killing Time
Ulrich's remarks after perfomance:
1st gig ever. Very Nervous.
Only hand.
Dave broke a string on the
first song.
Played so - so !!! Went down
Preety good.
March 27 Second gig, supporting Saxon at Whiskey - A - Go -
Go, Hollywood, CA. 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 Metallica (James, Lars, Dave, Ron) records "Power Metal"
4-song demo featuring "Hit The Lights", "The Mechanix," "Jump In
The Fire" and "Motorbreath".
April 23 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.
May 25 James' first gig on rhythm guitar at Backbay (Lars')
High School, Costa Mesa, CA
June 14 The first print of the Metal Massacre compilation
album was released, and included Metallica's first take of Hit The Lights
July 6 Metallica records "No Life 'Till Leather",
Songs: "Hit the Lights", "Seek & Destroy",
"Motorbreath", "The Mechanix", "Jump In The Fire",
"Metal Militia" and "Phantom Lord". This demo was never officially
released, but copies were made and spread like wildfire. After this demo the metal
underground considers Metallica "Gods."
August 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 Franciso.
September 18 Metallica establish a strong following by playing at
the Keystone in San Franciso, 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 Franciso.
October Metallica support Laaz Rockit in San Fransico.
November 11 Metallica play as to support to Y&T at the
Woodstock in L.A.
November 29 Metallica play as the headliner in the Bay Area. The
supporting act was Exodus featuring Kirk Hammett.
November 30 Mabuhay Gardens, San Francisco. The last gig with
Ron on bass.
December 28 First jam session with Cliff Burton. Cliff joins
Metallica
1983
January The band is invited by record shop owner Jon Zazula
to do some gigs on the East Coast. He also tries to get them a record contract, but when
this fails, he founds his own record label, Megaforce Records, and signs Metallica as his
first band
February 11 - 15 Jaymz, Lars, and Dave move to San Franciso.
Late February Metallica now with Cliff record a two track demo
featuring the songs "No Remorse" and "Whiplash".
March 5 Metallica plays first show with Cliff at the Stone
in San Franciso.
Late March Metallica, with Mark Whitaker 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 In New York, Jaymz and Lars decide to kick Dave out of the band
( April 11 ) . 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.
April 16 Kirk's first show with Metallica in Dover, NJ
May 3 Metallica signs with John Zazula's Megaforce Records
May 10-27 Metallica records "Kill Em All" in the
Barrett Alley Studios in Rochester, New York.
July "Kill Em
All" is released on Megaforce Records in the USA, and Music For Nations and
Roadrunner in Europe.
July 27 - September 3 Metallica start their first tour: "Kill Em All
For One" with labelmates Raven, which starts in New Brunswick and ends with a
sold-out show at the stone in San Francisco.
September 24 Ride The Lightning demos recorded, "live"
track of Phantom Lord and Seek & Destroy recorded
Jason Newsted forms Dogz with Kelly David - Smith Eric AK joins Dogz, Dogz becomes Flotsam
& Jetsam
October - December Metallica spent their time writing new material for
the next album, Ride The Lightning.
1984
January 19 Bands equipment stolen in Boston MA, this event
inspires "Fade To Black".
February 3 First European tour begins. They went on a tour
supporting VENOM, starting in Zurich, Switzerland and covering Germany, France and
Belgium, then finishing with the Aardshock Festival in Zwolle, Holland. During this tour,
the British label, Music for Nations, released the "Jump in the Fire" EP to
promote the tour.
February 20 Metallica goes to Copenhagen, where they stay at
Merciful 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 Metallica takes a break from recording their next album to head to
England, where Music For Nations has organised 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 Metallica finish work on Ride The Lightning an play four show with
Twisted Sister.
June 26 "Ride The Lightning" is
released by Megaforce records.
August Metallica play a showcase gig in New York, featuring
Anthrax (openers) and Raven (headliners). Attending the show are Cliff Burnsteind,
co-founder of Q-Prime Management, and Michael Alago, A&R director, of Elektra Records,
both of whom walk away suitably impressed with Metallica.
September 12 Metallica signs with Elektra Records in USA
November 16 Elektra re - releases Ride The Lightning
November 18 Metallica start first major European tour, with Tank
supporting, in Paris, France.
November 23 "Creeping Death" EP released in Europe
December 20 First London headlining gig at Lyceum, end of first
European tour.
1985
January 9 Metallica begin tour in USA and Canada, co-headling
with W.A.S.P., with Ammored Saint supporting. Then Metallica play as the Headliners.
February 9 First performance of "Fade To Black" in
Chicago.
March 9 Ride The Lightning peaks at #100 on USA charts.
March 18 Ride The Lightning tour ends in Portland.
April-July Metallica making new songs in the old garage near
San Francisco.
August 17 Metallica performs for the first time at the famous
Monsters of Rock festival at Donnington in England, in front of 70,000 people. Metallica
play in between Ratt and Bon Jovi.
August 31 They perform in front of 90,000 people in Oakland,
California at the "Days On The Green" festival.
September 1 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 2 Master Of Puppets recording sessions begin in
Denmark.
September 14 Metallica play a new song called "Disposable
Heroes" at the Metal Hammer festival in Germany.
December 27 Metallica finish recording Master Of Puppets and go
back to San Francisco
December 31 Metallica plays the Civic Centre in San Francisco,
with Megadeth, Metal Church and Exodus.
1986
January 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 21 "Master Of Puppets" is
released in USA
March 27 USA tour with Ozzy Osbourne starts in Wichita, KS.
This was a very important tour for Metallica, supporting Ozzy, as their popularity was
steadily rising and they were ready to hit the bigtime. This was also their last tour as a
supporting act.
May 11 "Master Of Puppets" peaks at #29 in USA
June 26 James breaks arm while skateboarding in Evansville,
IN. 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.
August 3 Last USA appearance with Cliff.
September 10 European leg of Damage Inc. tour starts in Cardiff,
Wales.
September 26 Last gig with Cliff Burton in Stockholm, Sweden;
James' arm healed, plays rhythm guitar.
September 27 Cliff Burton dies in bus accident in Sweden
It was approaching dawn on Saturday, the 27th of September, 1986. Metallica's two tour
buses were making their way along a god-forsaken road that lies somewhere between the
Scandinavian cities of Stockholm and Copenhagen. Apart from these vehicles, the route was
deserted - there was no one else travelling at that unearthly hour of the morning.
Suddenly, for no apparent reason, just before 6:15 a.m., one of the coaches swerved
violently to its right and started careening wildly down the wrong side of the road. It
was out of control, and a crash was inevitable.
The bus' brief, but horrific, excursion came to a halt some 60 feet further up the tarmac.
By this time, the vehicle was on its side and lying in a ditch by the side of the road,
near the small Swedish town of Ljungby.
During the unavoidable confusion that followed, the vast majority of the overturned bus'
passengers managed to scramble free of the wreckage. Those that emerged included three of
the four members of the band. In all honesty, the survivors had been extremely lucky, as
they had all somehow managed to escape with little more than minor injuries and shock.
Swedish police arriving on the scene of the crash immediately arrested the driver as a
matter of routine, but later released him without charges after further investigation
revealed that the cause of the crash was black ice on a nasty bend in the road.
Unfortunately, however, there had been one fatality in the accident...... what is more,
the deceased individual turned out to be one of the group. So, tragically, in the short
space of those few dreadful seconds on that lonely Swedish road, Metallica's dreamlike
existence was suddenly transformed into a hellish nightmare. Their 24 year old bass
player, Cliff Burton, was dead.
James Hetfield -1993:
"I saw the bus lying right on him. I saw his legs sticking out. I freaked. The bus
driver, I recall, was trying to yank the blanket out from under him to use for other
people. I just went, 'Don't fucking do that!' I already wanted to kill the guy. I don't
know if he was drunk or if he hit some ice. All I knew was, he was driving and Cliff
wasn't alive anymore."
September 29 The dazed group dealt with their anxiety in the
manner with which they were most familiar: drinking. James broke two hotel windows and
screamed, venting his rage. Kirk and his guitar tech, John Marshall, were so shaken that
they left the light on in their room that night. On this day James, Lars and Kirk returned
to the United States.
October 7 Cliff's funeral, Castro Valley, CA.
October Metallica loocking for new bassist.
October 28 Jason Newstead goes to an audition, in the hopes to
become the new bass player. He learned all the songs in a couple of days, so when the
three of them asked Jason what song he would like to play, he said "anyone you
like." At the end of the audition, Metallica had five candidates, but invited Jason
to have a drink with them at Tommy's Joint. Before leaving the place, the three members
went to the loo, and when they came back, they told Jason, "Welcome to
Metallica."
October 31 Jason's last show with Flotsam & Jetsam.
November 4 "Master Of Puppets" certified Gold in USA.
November 8 Metallica play first show with Jason at the Country
Club in L.A.
November 10 Metallica go to Japan.
November 20 First Japanese tour ends at Sun Plaza Hall, Tokyo.
1987
January-February Metallica and Metal Church tour Europe, playing East
Europe for the first time, ending in Zwolle, Holland.
February 13 Metallica plays Aardschock festival in Gothenburg
Sweden with Anthrax and Metal Church; Scrap Metal opens, consisting of roadies of the
various roadies, including Metallica's Eddie Kercer and Fleming Larsen.
March 23 James re - breaks arm in 2nd skateboarding accident.
Band scheduled to appear on NBC TV's Saturday Night Live cancelled due to James' broken
arm.
July 8 Recording session for Garage Days Re - revisited
begins in Los Angeles.
August 8 Master Of Puppets ends 72 week run on USA Charts.
August 20 The band started their European festival tour with a
small secret gig at Club 100 in London. Thousands of people showed up, even though the gig
wasn't advertised; however, many were denied at the door, as the club only had capacity
for a few hundred!
August 21 "Garage Days Re -
revisited" released in USA.
August 22 Metallica plays Castle Donington festival, in front
of 200,000 people.
October 10 Garage Days Re - revisited peaks at #28 on USA
Charts.
November 5 "Ride The Lightning" certified Gold in
USA.
December 4 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.
December 7 "Garage Days Re - revisited" certified
Gold in USA.
1988
January 15 "Kill Em All" re-released in USA by
Elektra with "Am I Evil?" and "Blitzkrieg" as bonus tracks.
January 29 Metallica officially begin recording their fourth
album, "...And Justice For All", in "One on One Studio" in Los
Angeles.
May Metallica complete recording process of And Justice For All and
begin mixing.
May 27 Monsters Of Rock tour starts in East Troy, WI with
40,000 people featuring Van Halen, Metallica, Scorpions and Kingdom Come.
July 28 "Master Of Puppets" certified double
platinum in USA.
August 19 "Harvester Of Sorrow" EP single released
in UK.
August 25 "...And Justice For All"
released in USA.
September 11 First show of Damaged Justice tour in Budapest,
Hungary.
October 9 "...And Justice For All" peaks at #6 in
USA.
October 30 "Eye Of the Beholder" single is released
in USA..
October 31 "...And Justice For All" certified Gold
and platinum in USA.
November 15 US tour begins in Toledo, Ohio, with Queensryche
opening.
December 6 The band film their first video "One," in
L.A.
1989
January 9 "One" single released in USA.
February 5 Metallica's show at the Reunion Arena in Dallas is
broadcast nationally via the Z-Rock radio network.
February 22 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 5 Cliff 'Em All certified triple platinum in USA.
April 8 "One" single peaks at #35 in USA.
April 21 Last show with Queensryche opening, The Cult new
support act.
May 1 First show in New Zealand in Auckland.
May 3 First show in Australia in Adelaide.
May 16 "Kill'Em All" certified gold & RTL
certified platinum in USA.
June 20 The home video "Two Of One" is released.
July 20 "...And Justice For All" certified double
platinum in USA.
August 18 2 Of One certified platinum in USA.
September 23 Last USA gig on Damaged Justice tour at Laguna
Hills, CA.
October 8 Metallica ends their Damaged Justice tour in Sao
Paulo, Brazil.
1990
January Metallica record the Queen song "Stone Cold
Crazy" to go on a compilation LP celebrating Elektra Records' 40-year Anniversary.
February 21 Metallica wins a Grammy for Best Metal Performance,
for One. While on stage receiving the award, the band gives Jethro Tull a big thank you
for not releasing anything this year, as they won last year.
May Metallica play several European festivals alongside WarriorSoul and
Dio. A couple imprompt appearances at London's Hippodrome and a secret gig at The Marquee
(under the name Vertigo).
June Metallica play a few stadium shows with Aerosmith and Warrant in
northern New York and Canada.
July Metallica begin work on their 5th album.
August 13 James and Lars record 3 demo's for new album.
October 6 Metallica enter "One On One Studios" in
L.A. with producer Bob Rock to befin recording 12 songs for their next album.
October 14 Records demo for The Unforgiven at Bayview Studios,
CA.
1991
February 20 Metallica wins a Grammy for "Best Heavy Metal
Performance" for their rendition of Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy" From
Elektra's Rubaiyat compilation.
April 29 - May 4 James, Lars and Bob Rock do minor recording at
Little Mountain Studios in Vancouver.
June 10 Mixing and minor recording starts at A & M
Studios in Hollywood.
July 7 Band leaves A&M Studios, recording and remixing
of Metallica ends.
July 8 - 10 Mastering of Metallica at Sterling Sound in New York
July 30 World premiere of the video for "Enter
Sandman".
August 3 Listening party for Metallica at Madison Square
Garden.
August 12 "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.
August 17 Band performs at Castle Donington Monsters Of Rock.
September 28 Metallica performs in Moscow at the Tushino
Airfield.
October 12 Wherever I May Roam tour begins (the band plays more
than 300 shows in 37 countries).
1992
February 25 "Enter Sandman" performed at Grammy
Awards, wins Best Heavy Metal award for Metallica.
February 26 World premiere for the video "Nothing Else
Matters".
April 4 Played at "Concert For Life," a tribute
show to Freddy Mercury at the Wembley Stadium in London. Metallica played three songs,
which were released as a single only days later. James performs Stone Cold Crazy with
Queen and Tony Iommi. All proceeds from this gig and the sales of the single were donated
to Freddy Mercury's AIDS fund. The show was also TV broadcasted to the whole world.
Summer Metallica tour with Guns N Roses
August 9 James burned by pyro mishap at Olympic Stadium in
Montreal, Canada; Riot ensues when Guns N Roses frontman leaves stage. The next gigs had
to be cancelled because James couldn't play the guitar with his burnt hand.
October 25 The first time Metallica played So What? live. What
obviously made it so cool was that Animal, the vocalist from the Anti-Nowhere League who
wrote this song, was dragged up to sing this masterpiece at Wembley Area, London, England.
November 5 All four members of Diamond Head were on the guest
list this day in Birmingham, England. This started Metallica thinking of the possibility
of jamming with them. With two drum sets on the stage, all eight band members played Am I
Evil? and Helpless together. The members of Diamond Head are close friends of Lars, for he
traveled with them on tour before Metallica was formed. Both of these tracks, and the jam
with Animal ten days earlier, are available on the "Metallican vid" that comes
in the Metallican-box for "...And Justice For All".
November The two home videos, "A Year And A Half In Ihe
Life Of Metallica," parts 1 & 2, were released.
1993
January Some people at Elektra suggested that Metallica
should come to Manhattan, and transform a record store into their own Metalli-store. The
guys liked the idea and opened the store to a flood of fans on this day, selling only
Metallica albums and merchandise. A tape was released for this day, and was exclusively
sold at this shop on the Grand Opening. The tape consists of a medley recorded in Moscow.
It was James who designed the tape cover with a drawing of Scary Guy.
January 22 A new tour saw the light of day. The "Nowhere
Else To Roam" Tour '93 began in Kalamazoo, MI.
July 4 Last show of "Nowhere Else To Roam" tour
November 23 The box set "Live Shit: Binge & Purge"
was released containing three CD's, three videos and a book.
1994
May 30 "Shit hits the Sheds" starts with a
Rehearsal Show in Buffalo, NY. Kill/Ride Medley and The God that Failed played live for
the first time
June 22 Performed live at the Pine Knob Music Theatre in
Detroit. Glenn Danzig and Chuck Biscuts from Danzig played Last Caress with the band. Last
Caress was written by Danzig when he was a member in Misfits.
July 3 Performed live at the World Music Theatre in
Chicago. This is Danzig's last show on the tour; Glenn Danzig sings London Dungeon, Last
Caress, and Green Hell with the band. Suicidal Tendencies joins the band during So What?
August 13
Metallica play on Woodstock '94.
August 21 Performed live at the Bicentennial Park in Miami.
The last show of the "Summer Shit Tour". Special guest is Rob Halford (ex-Judas
Priest, now Fight) who sings Rapid Fire (an old Judas Priest song) with the band.
October Lars and Jaymz begin work on new album.
1995
February 15 Metallica shows up to play for KNAC-FM, because it
was the stations last day on the radio.
May Band begins recording sessions for next album(s).
August 17 Rehearsal attended by Club members.
August 23 The tracks 2 x 4 and Devil's Dance are played for
the first time in front of an audience at the London Astoria in England. This was a
private show, and only members of the fan club were invited. According to Metallica this
was the best gig they had ever played. This was also the first date on their short tour
"Escape From The Studio" 95.
August 26 Bands interrupts recording session to play Castle
Donington Monsters Of Rock show.
September Band plays gig at Tuktoyatuk, Canada with Hole,
Veruca Salt and Moist.
November 13 Metallica performed 7 Motorhead songs (dubbing their
performance the "Lemmys") during Lemmy's birthday party at the famous club
"Whiskey A Go-Go". This is also the club where Lars and James met Cliff Burton.
 1996
January - February The band went into the Plant studio in Sausalito,
California, where they recorded 18 of the 25 tracks due to appear on the new album.
February 13 James gets his hair cut.
May 6 - 7 The video for "Until It Sleeps" was shot
at locations around and in Los Angeles.
May 21 "Until It Sleeps" single released in USA.
May 23 Premiere of "Until It Sleeps" video on
MTV.
June 1 "Load" is released in
Japan.
June 3 "Load" is released in non
- Japan/North America areas.
June 4 "Load" is released in
North America; Metallica plays 2 short sets on flatbed trucks at Tower Records in San Jose
and Sacramento.
June 9 - 10 Band plays Club members only gig in San Francisco,
show appears on Internet and Fan Can 2.
June 23 Band plays Club members only gig in Toronto, Canada.
June 27 Lollapalooza Festival tour begins.
August 3 Lemmy of Motorhead joins band onstage in Irvine, CA
for Overkill.
August 4 Last Lollapalooza show in Irvine, CA; Lemmy joins
sits in on Overkill, Jerry Cantrell joins for For Whom the Bell Tolls; Live recordings of
5 songs from this show appeared as b - sides
September 4 Metallica plays Until it Sleeps at MTV Video Awards.
September 6 Poor Touring Me European tour begins in Vienna,
Austria with Corrosion of Conformity opening.
September 23 Recorded the live video of Hero Of The Day in
Barcelona, Spain. They weren't using a recording, and 5 seconds before each of the 3 times
they played the song, a metronom was introducing the band to the required rythym, and the
beeps of it sounded throughout the whole audio system at the stadium. Also, Kirk got 3 or
4 notes wrong on the intro during the first attempt. Moreover, Lars asked the crowd to be
more energetic in each one of the new versions they played. So, by the third try, it
sounded louder than hell!
November 13 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 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 27 Last European Poor Touring Me in Copenhagen,
Denmark.
November 18 The single "Mama Said" is released world
wide.
December 19 Poor Touring Me North America begins in Fresno, CA;
Korn opens.
 1997
January 26 Lars got married to his long time girlfriend Skylar.
Lars had told everyone that they weren't going to so no one would interrupt the marriage.
January 27 Metallica performed "King Nothing" on the
American Music Awards 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."
January 28 Last date with Korn opening, Corrosion Of Conformity
opens remaining shows.
February 9 "Fuel" played for the first time in
Chicago.
February 22 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.
May 28 Poor Touring Me ends in Edmonton, Canada.
July "ReLoad" recording session commences.
August 17 James marries longtime girlfriend Francesca.
August 22 Band breaks from studio for European Festivals,
Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium.
August 23 Blindman's Ball - Stuttgart, Germany.
August 24 Reading Festival - England.
October 10 ReLoad recording finished.
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 Metallica played an entirely acoustic the 11th
Annual Bridge School Benefit Shows at Shoreline Amphitheatre, 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
Lyric for the first time.
October 19 The second Annual Bridge School Benefit Show at the
save venue. the sets were the same except on Saturday they did not play "Low Mans
Lyric", instead they played another new tune called "My Eye's". Also on the
bill was Kacy Crowley, Blues Traveler's, Lou Reed, Smashing Pumpkins, Alanis Morissette,
Dave Matthew's Band, and Neil Young.
October 21 - 22 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.
November 10 "The Memory Remains" single released
worldwide (except N. America).
November 11 "The Memory Remains" sigle released in
North America; Metallica performs a free show in Philadelphia.
November 13 TV appearance on BBC's Top of the Pop; Club show at
London's Ministry of Sound, eight songs recorded at this show would appear as b - sides on
various formats of The Unforgiven II single.
November 14 "ReLoad" released in
Japan.
November 16 Club gigs played in Stockholm and Copenhagen;
The Memory Remains music video premieres on MTV.
November 17 Worldwide release of "ReLoad" (except USA
and Japan).
November 18 USA release of "ReLoad"; Club show in
Paris.
December 6 Band playes "The Memory Remains" with
Marianne Faithfull and "Fuel" on Saturday Night Live.
December 8 Billboard Music Awards, wins award for Best Hard
Rock Artist.
December 12 Video shoot for The Unforgiven II in Los Angeles.
December 18 "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" radio
broadcast hosted by sports radio personality Scott Farrell of Farrell on the Bench; The
show features an acoustic set with special guests Jim Martin, Les Claypool, Gary
Rossington, Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney, Pepper Keenan and Chris Isaak.
 1998
January 26 "The Unforgiven II" video premieres in
USA.
January 31 Kirk marries Lani in Hawaii.
February 23 The "Unforgiven II" singles are released
worldwide (except N. America & Australia).
March 2 "The Unforgiven II" released in Australia.
March 17 "The Unforgiven II" released in North
America.
March 21 Metallica performs live for MTV's "ReLoad,
Rehearse, Request" show.
March 22 Lone Ulrich, Lars' mother passes away; First three
Pacific Rim tour dates rescheduled.
April 2 Pacific Rim leg of Poor Re - Touring Me begins in
Newcastle, Australia.
April 7 Metallica plays live for Club members on Australian
TV show "Recovery.
May 7 "Fuel" video taped in Tokyo.
May 8 Pacific Rim leg of Poor Re - Touring Me ends in Tokyo.
May 21 "Fuel" video premieres on MTV in USA.
June 13 Cali Tee Hetfield born.
June 16 "Fuel" singles released.
June 24 North American leg of Poor Re - Touring Me begins in
West Palm Beach, Florida.
August 5 Myles Ulrich born.
August 8 Tour break.
August 15 Jason performs with Sepultura in Brazil.
August 28 Tour resumes in Irvine, CA.
September 5 George, WA (The Gorge) Someone in the crowd threw a
glass bottle towards the stage and hit Jason in the head! Jason got hurt but came back and
finished the show as strong as ever. "We are here to give it all we got but I don t
understand why we have to watch out for shit thrown at us during the show. I hope they
find that fucker who did it" - James comments to the audience after the incident.
September 13 Last show of Poor Re - Touring Me in San Diego, CA.
September 15 Metallica return to studio to record new cover
songs.
October 18 Playboy Mansion, Los Angeles. A 45 minutes gig in
front of some of the most beautiful women in the world and other celebrities. Metallica
played at the Playboy party.
October 19 Photo shoot in Los Angeles Metallica spent 6 hours
at the old "Ambassador Hotel" together with photographer Danny Clinch. The
pictures was ment for the "Garage Inc." cover.
October 23 "Turn The Page" video shot, directed by
Jonas Akerlund in LA.
November 6 Kirk has emergency appendectomy while on promo tour
in London.
November 17 Toronto, Canada first show in Garage Inc promo tour.
November 18 Metallica TV appears on MTV features premiere of
"Turn The Page" music video.
November 19 Chicago, IL Garage Inc promo tour.
November 20 Detroit, MI Garage Inc promo tour.
November 22 "Whiskey In The Jar" home video shot in
NY. Jonas Ackerlund returns as director.
November 23 Philadelphia, PA Garage Inc promo tour.
November 23 "Garage Inc."
released outside North America.
November 24 New York, shown live on MTV Garage Inc promo tour.
November 24 "Garage Inc."
released in North America.
December 8 Cunning Stunts home video released on video tape and
DVD, making this the first music related video shot specifically for DVD.
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