Lars Ulrich: Metallica have always felt like outsiders

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Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich says the thrash icons have never truly felt like they belong

A picture of Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich (Image credit: Getty)

Lars Ulrich says Metallica have always felt “like outsiders.”

Despite being one of the biggest bands in the world after years of success, drummer Ulrich says the thrash icons have never felt like they “belonged to anything.”

Ulrich tells Rolling Stone: “We’ve always connected to the edgy bits of culture. Obviously we’ve always felt kind of like outsiders.

“We’ve always felt like we never really belonged to anything.”

But Ulrich insists he’s happier on the fringes than being caught up in anything too mainstream.

“Even when I was 13, I never felt like I was part of a mainstream type of thing,” he says.

“That’s what happened when I met these guys and we formed the band. Harder rock music made me feel like I was belonging to something bigger than myself.

“Obviously we’ve always loved to be a little bit independent, autonomous, and maybe even occasionally slightly contrary, so we’ve always hovered out here with the rest of the misfits and it’s been a cool place to hang.

“I’m an only child, I’ve always felt like a bit of a loner and I’ve always charted my own course.”

Metallica recently released their new album Hardwired… To Self-Destruct and have a number of tour dates lined up, with more to follow.

Metallica tour dates 2016-17 so far

Dec 17: Oakland Fox Theater, CA
Jan 11: Seoul Gocheok Sky Dome, South Korea
Jan 18: Beijing Le Sports Centre, China
Jan 20: Hong Kong AsiaWorld-Expo, China
Jan 22: Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore
Feb 03: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Feb 05: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Feb 07: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Feb 09: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Mar 01: Mexico City Foro Sol, Mexico
Mar 03: Mexico City Foro Sol, Mexico
Mar 25: Sao Paulo Interlagos Racetrack, Brazil
Mar 31-Apr 01: Buenos Aires Hippodrome San Isidro, Argentina
Apr 01-02: Santiago Parque O’Higgins, Chile
May 19-21: Rock On The Range festival, OH

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Stef Lach

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.