Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich claimed earlier this year that Metallica nearly broke up in 2005 before being asked to open for The Rolling Stones, but in a new social media post, he seems to make it sound like the band were in a better place after finishing their first tour with Robert Trujillo replacing Jason Newsted after James Hetfield went to rehab. Metallica’s ex-bassist revealed a sad royalty paycheck yesterday.
“14 years ago today, November 13, 2005 we returned to live action after almost a year away by supporting an up-and-coming British blues band called @TheRollingStones over a coupla shows in San Francisco.
The St. Anger tour finished the previous November and after some much-needed chill time, we were gearing up to start thinking about the next creative phase when we got the call.
Up til that point, we had played with a lot of the bands that I had posters of up on my walls, including Deep Purple, AC/DC, Iron Maiden… and the chance to put a check mark next to rocking with The Stones at home in SF seemed way f**kin fun.
The idea of playing a coupla shows supporting, going on stage early, nothing to promote, performing a shorter set, going to my own bed at home was definitely a vibe and was a cool way to ease ourselves into the making of the next record. An inspiring and memorable experience!”
James Hetfield drinking with a bandmate in a photo was revealed earlier this week. Ulrich told The Sun earlier this year, “You can’t keep people guessing forever and, if you try to, you look silly so trying to maintain a mystique went out of the door for us a while ago. For us, it’s all about inviting people in and making ourselves as accessible as possible to fans. That period certainly wasn’t easy for us and, since then, we have learned boundaries and where our breaking points are.”
“That was the last time we had a real break. We haven’t shut down the band in 14 years, but we disappeared then for about a year. And then the Rolling Stones called us up and said, ‘Come and play some shows with us in California. And we sort of agreed: You’re not going to say no to the Stones. So that was it.”
“It gave us the way to start it back up again. Whether you’re a team in an office or a bunch of dudes in a rock and roll band, at some point people have to figure out how to get along and work as a team. If you don’t care, it’s easier to walk away, but fortunately we cared enough about Metallica on behalf of ourselves and the fans to figure out a way to make it function. I’m happy that we did.” A Metallica icon called out a Dave Mustaine lie a few days ago.
