February 10, 1962: Cliff Burton, bassist for Metallica's first three albums, is born.

November 18, 1962: Kirk Hammett is born in San Francisco, California

March 4, 1963: Jason Newsted, Cliff's replacement, is born in Battle Creek, Michigan

August 3, 1963: Jaymz Alan Hetfield is born in Los Angeles, California

December 26, 1963: 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.

Late 1976: Lars get his first drum kit from his Grandparents

1980: 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. He returns to Los Angeles to try and make his own NWOBHM band.

Early 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. 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.

Late 1981: Metallica puts a song a on compilation LP called Metal Massacre 1, featuring metal bands from the L.A. area. The song they put onthe album was called "Hit The Lights" (sound familiar?). The band at that time was Lars on the drums, Jaymz on rhythm guitar, bass and vocals, and Lloyd Grant, on the lead guitar.

January 1982: Metallica picks up Dave Mustaine, a friend of Jaymz, whichplays lead guitar. Around the same time Metallica picks up Ron McGovney, Hetfield's roommate, to play bass.

March 1982: Metallica opens for Saxon at Whiskey A Go Go in L.A.. 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 1982: Metallica (Jaymz, Lars, Dave, and Ron) record a 4-song demo featuring "Hit The Lights", "The Mechanix," "Jump In The Fire" and "Motorbreath." sowing the seeds for Metallica's next demo.

May 28, 1982: 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.

July 1982: Metallica records "No Life 'Till Leather," featuring the songs from their first demo as well as "Metal Militia," "Seek And Destroy," and "Phantom Lord." After this demo the metal underground considers Metallica "Gods."

August 1982: 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, 1982: 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 1982: Metallica support Laaz Rockit in San Fransico.

November 11, 1982: Metallica play as to support to Y&T at the Woodstock in L.A.

November 29, 1982: Metallica play as the headliner in the Bay Area. The supporting act was Exodus featuring Kirk Hammett, 20 years old at the time.

November 30, 1982: Metallica plays their last concert with Ron at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Franciso.

December 1982: Jaymz, Lars, and Dave move to San Franciso, moving in at 3132 Carlson Boulevard, the home of soundman Mark Whitaker.

January 1983: Johny "Z" Zazula, a record store owner/concert promoter in New Jersey invites Metallica to come do some shows on the East Coast.

February 15, 1983: Metallica complete their move to San Franciso, Lars and Jaymz share a place with Mark, while Dave ends up at Mark's grandmother's.

Late February, 1983: Metallica now with Cliff record a two track demo featuring the songs "No Remorse" and "Whiplash."

March 5, 1983: Metallica plays first show with Cliff at the Stone in San Franciso.

Late March, 1983: Metallica, with Mark 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 1983: In New York, Jaymz and Lars decide to kick Dave out of the band. 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.

May 10-27, 1983: Metallica records "Kill Em All" in the Barrett Alley Studios in Rochester, New York.

July 1983: "Kill Em All" is released on Megaforce Records in the USA, and Music For Nations and Roadrunner in Europe.

July 27-September 3, 1983: Metallica start their first tour with labelmates Raven, which starts in New Brunswick and ends with a sold-out show at the stone in San Francisco.

December 1983: Metallica starts work for their second album in New Jersey. The songs put together were "Fade To Black" "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and "Trapped Under Ice." On the weekends, Metallica plays a series of headlining shows with Anthrax, After the last show, most of Metallica's gear gets stolen.

Early February 1984: Metallica embark on the Seven Dates Of Hell tour supporting Venom. The highlight of the tour is at the Aardschok festival in Zwolle, Holland, where they played in front of 5,000 fans.

Late February 1984: 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 1984: 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 1984: Metallica finish work on Ride The Lightning an play four show with Twisted Sister.

August 1984: 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. Soon, Metallica becomes part of Q-Prime Management, as well as recording artist for Elektra. Initially issued through the Megaforce label, Ride The Lightning is eventually re-released through Elektra.

November 18-December 20, 1984: Metallica start first major European tour, with Tank supporting, in Paris, France, and ending at the Lyceum in London. An average of 1,300 fans turns up for each show.

Early 1985: The first three months of the year are spent co-headling with W.A.S.P., with Ammored Saint supporting. Then Metallica play as the Headliners.

May-July, 1985: Metallica take a break before starting work on new album

August, 1985: On the 17, Metallica play in between Ratt and Bon Jovi at the Castle Donnington festival in England, in front of 70,000 people. A week latter they perform in front of 90,000 people in Oakland, California at the Days On The Green festival. The next day, 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 14, 1985: Metallica play a new song called "Disposable Heroes" at the Metal Hammer festival in Germany.

December 27, 1985: Metallica finish Master Of Puppets and go back to San Francisco

New Year's Eve, 1986: Metallica plays the Civic Centre in San Francisco, with Megadeth (first and last time), Metal Church and Exodus.

January, 1986: 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, 1986: Jaymz and Lars head to the Bahamas for a break after the release of Master Of Puppets.

March, 1986: Master Of Puppets gets released, then a tour in the states supporting Ozzy, beginning on March 27.

June 26, 1986: 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.

September 10, 1986: Metallica headline London's legendary Hammersmith Odeon, with Anthrax
supporting.

September 27, 1986: Cliff Burton is killed in a bus crash on the way to Copenhagen.

October, 1986: The rest of the band returns to America with disbelief. Soon the group starts to audition
new bassists. Jason Newsted from Flotsam & Jetsam fills the place.

November 8, 1986: Metallica play first show with Jason at the Country Club in L.A.

November 9-14, 1986: Metallica begins a tour with Metal Church supporting in Canada and the East
Coast of America.

January-February, 1987: Metallica and Metal Church tour Europe, playing East Europe for the first time,
ending in Gothenburg, Sweden on February 13.

May 1987: Jaymz breaks his arm skateboarding, for a while playing Europe's annual Monsters Of Rock
festival in August becomes questionable.

August, 1987: Metallica warm up for Monsters Of Rock at London's 100 club. Metallica plays 3 shows
at Donnington, Nurnberg and Pfordsheim in front of 200,000 people, afterwards they release Garage
Days Re-Revisited.

December 4, 1987: 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.

January 19, 1988: Metallica officially begin recording their fourth album, ...And Justice For All.

May, 1988: Metallica complete recording process of And Justice For Alland begin mixing whilepreparing 2 month tour as part of the US Monsters Of Rock package. May 27 tour begins in East Troy, Wisconsin.

July, 1988: Master Of Puppets goes platinum

September 5, 1988: And Justice For All is released

September 11, 1988: Metallica play a sold out show in Budapest, Hungary supporting their new album.

November 15, 1988: US tour begins in Toledo, Ohio, with Queensryche opening

December 6, 1988: The band film their first-ever video "One," in L.A. a day before the first of their two-night appearance at the Long Beach Arena.

February 5, 1989: Metallica's show at the Reunion Arena in Dallas is broadcast nationally via the Z-Rock radio network.

February 22, 1989: 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 21, 1989: The Cult take Queensryche's place on Metallica's tour.

October 8, 1989: Metallica ends their Damaged Justice tour in Sao Paulo, Brazil

January, 1990: Metallica record the Queen song "Stone Cold Crazy" to go on a compilation LP celebrating Elektra Records' 40-year Anniversary.

May, 1990: 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, 1990: Metallica play a few stadium shows with Aerosmith and Warrant in northern New York and Canada.

July-September, 1990: Metallica begin work on their 5th album.

Early October, 1990: Metallica enter One On One Studios in L.A. with producer Bob Rock to befin recording 12 songs for their next album.

October, 1990 - July, 1991: Metallica and Bob Rock make sure Metallica's next album sounds exactly how they want it. The LP is remixed 3 times.

August 12, 1991: "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.

1991-1993: After "The Black Album" is released, the band plays more than 300 shows in 37 countries.

February 1991: Metallica wins a Grammy for "Best Heavy Metal Performance" for their rendition of Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy" From Elektra's Rubaiyat compilation

Summer 1992: Metallica tours with Guns N Roses

Summer 1994: Shit in the Sheds tour!

October 1994: Lars and Jaymz begin work on Load

February 15, 1995: Metallica shows up to play for KNAC-FM, because it was the stations last day on the radio.

February 1995: Metallica and Bob Rock enter The Plant in Sausalito, California to begin recording load. They come up with enough to fill a double album and debate on what to do, they decide to release load as a 70 minute long CD and wait a year to release the other CD.

December 14, 1995: Metallica honour Lemmy from Motorhead at his birthday bash at the Whisky. They play under the name "The Lemmys," and perform a set of Motorhead covers dressed as Lemmy.

June 4, 1996: Load is released.

June, 1996: Metallapalooza begins with Metallica and Soundgarden as the Headliners and others supporting the tour, bands such as the Ramones, and Rancid.

Summer/Fall 1996: Metallica Tours Europe

November 13, 1996: 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, 1996: 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 18, 1996: The single Mama Said is released world wide.

November 18 & 19, 1996: Apocalyptica opens for Metallica in Helsinki, Finland.

January 17, 1997: King Nothing premiered on MTV.

January 26, 1997: 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, 1997: Metallica performed "King Nothing" on the AMA 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."

February 22, 1997: 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.

August 22-24, 1997: Metallica took a break from recording to play 3 festivals in Europe. First day was at the Pukkelpop festival in Hasselt, Belgium. Second Day was at the Blindman's Ball Festival, Stuttgart, Germany. The third was at the Reading Festival, Reading, U.K.

October 6, 1997: In order to promote ReLoad Metallica wanted to hold a free concert, but they didn't know where at. They gave the fans a few details and a 800 telephone number where they could call in to make suggestions. The show had to be on Tuesday, November 11 (Veteran's Day), outdoors. Because this had to be a free concert for anyone wishing to make the trip. Over 120,000 Metallica fans called in.

October 10, 1997: 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, 1997: 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. On Saturday Metallica played the second Annual Bridge School Benefit Show as well. The sets were the same except they didn't play Low Mans Lyric, instead they played another new tune called "My Eye's".

October 20 & 21, 1997: 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. The video premiered on November 15, 1997 on MTV's Mattrock.

October 26, 1997: The final day for the fans to call in to suggest a place for Metallica to play the free concert. Metallica wound up playing in the CoreStates Arena parking lot in Philadelphia.

November 7, 1997: South Philadelphians that didn't want the concert to go on went court to try to stop the free outdoor concert. Vincent Fumo asked his lawyer, Christopher Craig, to see what he could do. Craig spent all day drafting a request for an injunction that he delivered to Common Pleas.

November 11, 1997: Metallica's free concert, called the "Million Decibel March," was a great. They opened up with Jaymz playing the famous ESPN Sportscenter music on his guitar. a local newspaper called the Philadelphia Inquirer said this about the show: "It was part burlesque show, part rugbymatch, and hearing-loss loud. The band was profane on stage and charming before the show. Police pronounced the fans better behaved than a Philadelphia Eagles crowd. And neighbours who feared the worst from the self-styled Loudest Band in the World complained more about the sound from the news choppers circling overhead."

November 12, 1997: Memory Remains single released in America.

November 13, 1997: Metallica play a free show at London's premier dance venue Ministry Of Sound to promote "Re-Load." After the show Lars said "I've never heard of the Ministry Of Sound but I'm sure Metallica playing there will make it a hit!"

December 6, 1997: Metallica performed live on Saturday Night Live.

March 1998: The tour in supporting Reload will start in Asia. They will visit Australia as well.

March 1998: The live film will be completed in March 1998. 52 minutes of the film will be available for launch parties world-wide, completed with personalised IDs. The band have said that they may consider use of the promotional film for TV broadcasts.

June 23 1998: Rehearsals for the upcomming "Poor re-touring me 98". The tour started the day after in West Palm Beach, Florida, and ended in San Diego, California September the 13th.

August 15, 1998: Lars becomes a father. Skylar Ulrich gave birth to a baby boy, Myles Ulrich, at 4:15 am in New York City. He was 7 pounds, 8 ounces and was 20 inches

September 5, 1998: 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 14, 1998: Metallica went straight in to the studio the day after the last show in San Diego. They recorded the new songs on the "Garage Inc." CD

October 18, 1998: 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, 1998: 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 21, 1998: Metallica spent Wednesday the 21st recording the video for their version of Bob Seger's Turn The Page from the upcoming Garage Inc. album. The clip is directed by Swedish director Jonas Akerlund, who also filmed Madonna's Ray of Light video and Prodigy´s Smack my Bitch. It all took place at Raleigh Studios in Los Angeles.

November, 1998: Metallica filed a lawsuit against online store Amazon.com over the bootleg album entitled "Bay Area Thrashers: The Early Days." The group is seeking an unspecified amount in damages, in addition to an injunction preventing future sales of the album.

November 22, 1998: Metallica finished the videoshoot for 'Whiskey in the Jar' in Brooklyn, NY in the first week of December 1998.

November 19 & 20, 1998: Metallica perform to promote the release of Garage Inc. The Aragon Ballroom -Chicago the 19th and State Theatre, Detroit, MI on the Nov 20th. According to the industry trade publication Pollstar Metallica made $32 million dollars this year

January 14, 1999: Metallica filed a lawsuit against Victoria's Secret and Victoria's Secret Catalogue, citing trademark infringement, false designation of origin, unfair competition, and dilution.
The following is from the lawsuit: "Victoria's Secret manufactures and sells lip pencils bearing the mark Metallica. The packaging for Victoria's Secret's Metallica lip pencils also bear the mark Metallica. These lip pencils continue to be sold by Victoria's Secret throughout the United States.

January 25, 1999: Whiskey in the Jar video and singles released. The single comes as a 3 CD set where parts 2 and 3 are limited to 10,000 copies

February 24, 1999: 41st annual Grammy Award winners announced. Best metal performance: "Better Than You" by Metallica

March 16, 1999: The Recording Industry Association of America gave Diamond awards to AC/DC, The Eagles, and Metallica. The Diamond award goes to single titles that sell 10 million or more copies, and Metallica got it for the black album. The awards was presented at a special ceremony in New York City's Roseland Ballroom with 46 recording artists representing 62 titles.
Until this day, the RIAA has only presented record sales awards for Gold (500,000 units), Platinum (1 million units) and Muti-Platinum® (2 million or more units). The Diamond Award was bestowed for the first time by the RIAA to the biggest names in the music industry.

James Hetfield thanked producer Bob Rock "for making the big noises extra big."

March 20, 1999: Kirk Hammett played with Swarm, a band formed by several of his friends

April 11, 1999: Metallica started their world tour in Honolulu. They also did two dates at the Berkeley Community Theatre in San Francisco which later ended up on the S&M album. A few dates in south America followed before they headed over to Europe where they ended the tour in Lisbon, Portugal. Many festival shows, including the Roskilde festival in Lars' home country Denmark

April 21-22, 1999: Metallica and San Francisco Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Kamen perform together the 10 songs later know as S&M at Berkeley Community Theatre.
Gig reports said that ".....thrashier songs as "Battery" the orchestra basically bolsters the sturm und drang by underscoring the powerful themes that drive it. With other numbers, notably "Master of Puppets" and newer tunes like "Devil's Dance," there's more room for interplay between rock and classical elements - horns flash brassily in the mix and percussion peppers the grinding grooves."

April 30, 1999: Pantera frontman Phil "Animal" Anselmo joined Metallica onstage in Mexico City on April 30th. The quintet performed Creeping Death to the delight of 50.000 Mexican fans.

May 23, 1999: At the Dynamo Open Air show Metallica invited Evan, Billy and Danny from Biohazard, Scott Ian from Anthrax and Anthony from Merauder on stage to sing the "die die die" part of Creeping Death.

June 5, 1999: Metallica had a nice surprise in Milan, Italy. They invited King Diamond and Hank Sherman from Mercyful Fate for the 12 minute long Mercyful Fate medley!

June 14, 1999: Die Die Die My Darling single released with live tracks recorded at the Roseland Ballroom in New York november 1998. In Australia the single was released the 19th and it included as a bonusan enhanced CD-ROM with "Turn The Page" and "Whiskey In The Jar" video clips.

July 22-25, 1999: US Woodstock 1999 which commemorated the 30th anniversary of the original festival held in Bethel, N.Y. Of cource, Metallica played there as they did in 1994.

September, 1999: Power. Performance. Attitude. These are keywords when we do talk about the HotWeels Turbo racing game. And this time they can really call it Powerfull. The game released on Nintendo64 and Playstation Septemer 1999 with Metallicas "Fuel" in the soundtrack on the Playstation edition.

November 19 & 23, 1999: In conjunction with the new release "S&M, Metallica played two live symphony shows, one in Madison Square Gardens, New York with the New York Symphony orchestra, and a show in Germany with Babelsberger Film Orchester. A short tour followed.

November 23, 1999: The 2CD live album S&M released in the states. The date did vary depending on where you lived on the planet. Several Metallica videos were released on DVD at the same time "Cliff 'Em All" and "A Year and A Half... PT 1 & 2".

December 31, 1999: Silverdome, Pontiac, USA . Metallica and Ted Nugent will usher in the next millennium together with a New Year's Eve show in Pontiac, Michigan

January 9, 2000: Kid rock joined Metallica on stage in Minneapolis, MN, USA and sang the chorus of Turn the Page along with James. Kid Rock was supporting Metallica on their short mini tour.

February 23, 2000: The big M added another Grammy Award to their collection. This one for Garage Inc's Whiskey In The Jar for Best Hard Rock Performance. This is Metallica's fifth Grammy.

March 20, 2000: single "No Leaf Clover" released. Again there will be 3 different versions of the single. Fans can also watch a 45 minute CD-ROM documentary on Metallica's symphonic collaboration split in 15 minute edits across the single's 3-CD format

April 13, 2000: 11 year old Rueben Moss fronts with 14 year old Evan Moss on drums and backing vocals. Jason is to sit in on 6 of their songs from their first CD "North Side of the Tree." The show was at Last Day Saloon in San Francisco.

April 13, 2000: In what marks the first significant blow in the brewing battle between artists and the emerging online music distribution aid Napster, Metallica has filed suit against the tech company.
The metal giants filed suit in U.S. District Court naming Napster, and several schools. The suit charges Napster and the schools in question with copyright infringement, unlawful use of digital audio interface device, and violations of the Racketeering Influenced & Corrupt Organizations Act

Napster is still in its relative infancy, but the technology has managed to nestle itself at the center of a media storm (and to raised the ire of the music) during its brief life span. Napster boasts that its technology gives users one simple interface through which to search for and download MP3s of their favorite songs.

Metallica and co-plaintiffs E/M Ventures and Creeping Death Music claim that the company "encourages and enables visitors to its website to unlawfully exchange with others copyrighted songs and sound recordings without the knowledge or permission of Metallica."

April 25, 2000: The radio play for the soundtrack song "I Disappear" for the movie "Mission impossible II" started on the 25th of April. The movie soundtrack was released two weeks later. This song was available on the net in MP3 format prior to this and some radio station even played it before it was official released.

May 2, 2000: The band did an online chat with the fans to explain why they started the Napster case. Proir to the chat Metallica made an official statement saying (edited)
"Metallica is suing Napster because we felt that someone had to address this important artistic issue, and we have always been known for taking a leadership role in the fight for artist¹s rights. We were the first band to sue our record company, Time Warner, for the right to control our future. Rather than allowing the record company ­or any other corporation­ to own our recordings and compositions, we chose to fight for (and eventually win) control of our music.

This issue is no different. Why is it all of a sudden okay to get music for free? Why should music be free, when it costs artists money to record and produce it?"

May 4, 2000: Kirk Hammett was welcomed on stage to jam with Sammy Hager and the WaboRitas.

May 18, 2000: the world welcomed James' son Castor Virgil Hetfield at 3:23 PM. He's a big boy at nine pounds and six ounces, and 22 1/2 inches long. Mom and son are doing great.

June 1, 2000: Motorhead played at the Maritime Hall in San Francisco. Right before the last song, James Hetfield came on stage, grabbed a guitar and said "These are the godfathers of heavy metal" and then jammed with them on Overkill.

June 3, 2000: Performed at the 2000 MTV Movie Awards, at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. Metallica played "I Disappear," from the Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack

June 26, 2000: New single as "I disappear" is released. This is the soundtrack for "Mission impossible 2" and the first track Metallica wrote for a movie. They wanted them to do the theme but said no and this did song instead. The soundtrack album was released 7th of July.

June 23, 2000: Short US tour starts in Memorial Stadium in Seattle

July 4, 2000: A 21-year-old man fell to his death at Baltimore stop on the Summer Sanitarium 2000 tour
The victim, identified as Martin Muscheet of Connecticut, fell from the upper deck of Psinet Stadium on to the pavement outside the venue. It appears he had his legs over the railing and either fell or lost his balance.

July 7, 2000: James wasn't on stage with the band when they played in Atlanta as he were in the hospital with a few disks in his lower back slipped out of place. As for the show, Kirk, Lars and Jason came out and explained the situation and said that they will be playing again in Atlanta on August 4th to make up for Jaymz's abscence. They came out about 30-45 minutes later in their usual attire and began the show. The show was filled with a lot of guest apperances including members from Kid Rock, System of a down and Korn.

July 11, 2000: Statement of Lars Ulrich before the Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate. A few lines of the statement:
To underscore what I've spoken about today, I'd like to read from the "Terms of Use" section of the Napster Internet web site. When you use Napster you are basically agreeing to a contract that includes the following terms:

"This web site or any portion of this web site may not be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, resold, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose that is not expressly permitted by Napster."

July 18, 2000: The veteran band played a secret gig at the House of Blues for 1,000 contest winners from across the United States, none of whom knew for sure who would be taking the stage until the curtains were pulled back. Before leaving the stage, Lars thanked Miller "for helping pay the rent this month"

August 2, 2000: First of 6 "make-up-shows" since Metallica could't play full set when James was injured. People could enter using the old ticket stub. For these shows Corrosion of Conformity opened for them

September 6, 2000: Metallica and Dr.Dre contacted several universities and asked them to ban "Napster" on the schools computers.

September 26-27, 2000: Rumors said that the band were in the "One on one" studio to start recording on their next CD, but the truth was that they were there to record an episode of VH1's "Classic albums" program.

November 5, 2000: Kirk Hammett among other stars and musician join forces in a protest march in San Francisco against the increase rental prices for rehearsal studios. The new echonomy with all the internet companies made a higher demand for rooms, so many bands and artists were kicked out. Kirk also had a speach at the event.

November 17, 2000: James is know to be a big Misfits fan, and he has been so for more than 20 years. The Misfits played in San Francisco and Mr. Hetfield was in the crowd. He hopped onstage with them during their gig at Maritime Hall to sing with the ghouls on "Last Caress" and, later in the set, "Die, Die My Darling."

November 30, 2000: Metallica was invited to perform at the "VH1 music award" and you know the guys, they always have to do something different. Metallica played at the parking lot outside for 200 fans and fanclub members, instead of playing inside in front of other celebrities. They also won the price for "Best stage spectacle".

January 2001: Lars is in New York mastering the debut album by Systematic, a band he has signed to his label "The record company". Peter Collins is producing the LP.

January 17, 2001: The news shocks the whole world of Metallica fans, Jason will leave the band! Metallica did a full press-release which said:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 17, 2001
11:00AM (EST)

STATEMENT FROM THE MEMBERS OF METALLICA
Metallica regrets to announce that after 14 years as Metallica's bass player, Jason Newsted has chosen to leave the band.

Jason Newsted: "Due to private and personal reasons, and the physical damage that I have done to myself over the years while playing the music that I love, I must step away from the band. This is the most difficult decision of my life, made in the best interest of my family, myself, and the continued growth of Metallica. I extend my love, thanks, and best wishes to my brothers: James, Lars, and Kirk and the rest of the Metallica family, friends, and fans whom have made these years so unforgettable."

Newsted joined Metallica from Flotsam And Jetsam in the fall of 1986 after the tragic death of bassist Cliff Burton. He participated in the recording of 6 Metallica albums (...And Justice For All, Metallica, Load, Re-Load, Garage Inc., and S&M), which have sold over 55 million copies worldwide to date. In addition, he played on numerous worldwide tours to millions of fans representing over 1000 gigs in all. While with Metallica, the band won countless awards including 5 Grammy Awards and 2 MTV Video Music Awards.

James Hetfield: "Playing with someone who has such unbridled passion for music will forever be a huge inspiration. On stage every night, he was a driving force to us all, fans and band alike. His connection will never be broken."

Lars Ulrich: "We part ways with Jason with more love, more mutual respect, and more understanding of each other than at any other point in the past. James, Kirk and I look forward to embracing the next chapter of Metallica with both a huge amount of appreciation for the last 14 years with Jason and the excitement of rising to the challenges that lay ahead to make Metallica shine brighter than ever."

In the spring, Metallica will begin writing and recording a new studio album with release sometime in late 2001 or early 2002.

Kirk Hammett: "Jason is our brother. He will be missed."

February 1, 2001: "Who want to be a millionaire" TV program with Lars Ulrich is recorded at ABC TV's studios. This was an all-star episode of the game show and each celebrity picked a charity to donate the money to, and they were guaranteed $32,000 even if they never hit the seat. Lars got out on the $64,000 question, about a comedy act, but still won $32,000 which he gave to a hospital for homeless in San Francisco. The show was broadcasted on the 11th of February

February 11, 2001: MacFarlane Toys is showing the Metallica action figures to the public for the first time at the Manhattan's Toy Fair. The models are based on the band during And justice for all.

February 11, 2001: James and Lars showed up Sunday night at the Cactus Club in downtown San Jose to watch friends and former tour mates, Corrosion of Conformity perform. Since C.O.C hasnt performed in a few years in Bay area it was no suprise to see James, a long time fan of the band, in attendance. About halfway through the set Hetfield got up on stage and played a song with them.

June 4, 2002: James, Lars, Kirk, and Metallica's producer for the last few albums, Bob Rock, put on a show in a club called Kimo's in San Francisco. They performed under the name Spun and they played four Ramones songs:Commando, Today Your Love Tomorrow The World, 53rd and 3rd, Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue. After the tribute songs, the band went into Hit the Lights, Leper Messiah, For Whom The Bell Tolls, and then A NEW SONG!. The band then played I Disappear and ended with Die, Die My Darling.

August 3, 2002: Metallica launches the ITS website to inform fans on the new album recording process

January 19, 2003: Metallica made a surprise appearance at the Raiders vs. Bucaneers game playing on a flatbed truck

June 5, 2003: The 8th Studio Album St. Anger is released worldwide after a rushed release originally set at June 10.

August 7, 2003: St. Anger goes double platinum shipping more than 2 million copies in the United States