Metallica was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by Hetfield and Ulrich. Then Hammett and Cliff Burton, their first bassist, joined in 1983, when Metallica released its first album, Kill 'Em All. This and their next album, Ride the Lightning, were originally released with Megaforce Records, but they rereleased them and all other albums with Elektra Records. Their breakthrough came in 1986, when their first classic album, Master of Puppets, was released. But that same year, Burton died when their tour bus crashed. The group hired Jason Newstead as his replacement, and they moved on.
Two years later, Metallica made another breakthrough with ... And Justice for All and the album's greatest track, "One" (#35). This song won them their first Grammy for Best Metal Performance. 1991 brought even more success with their #1 album Metallica, otherwise known as "The Black Album". Three Top Forty songs came off of this album: "The Unforgiven" (#35), "Nothing Else Matters" (#34), and the group's most popular song ever, "Enter Sandman" (#16). The album won them another Grammy for Best Metal Album. The group won 7 Grammys in total.
The band continued to gain success, with more #1 albums such as Load and Reload. Then, after recently releasing a Garage Days album that reached #2, Newstead quit the band. Metallica hired Robert Trujilo to replace him. Then they released two more #1 albums: St. Anger and Death Magnetic. They deserved to be inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. The band that redefined metal continues to prove that you can never rock too hard.
