Guitarist Dave Mustaine (who formed Megadeth) and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted are former members of the band. Metallica's current lineup comprises founding members Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding 'big four' bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. The band was formed in 1981 by drummer Lars Ulrich and vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield. Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Metallica ranks as one of the most commercially successful bands of all time, having sold over 125 million records worldwide as of 2018. 61 on its 100 Greatest Artists of All Time list. Metallica has been listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by magazines such as Rolling Stone, which ranked them at no.

The band has won nine Grammy Awards from 23 nominations, and its last six studio albums have consecutively debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.

Often dubbed the ‘biggest metal band of all time’, ’Metallica has released ten studio albums, four live albums, a cover album, five extended plays, 37 singles and 39 music videos. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the f ounding 'big four' bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer.

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