It’s been over 30 years since Metallica released their debut album ‘Kill ‘Em All’, and since their 1981 offering was first unveiled the band have cemented their place in rock’n’roll history with plenty of platinum-selling records and sell-out tours.
In the decades since James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich first formed Metallica, the group have established themselves as one of - if not the best - metal bands ever.
James, Lars and their bandmates Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo have been officially inducted into the Rock’n’Roll Hall Of Fame, named on Rolling Stone’s Greatest Artists Of All Time list and sold over 30 million copies of their self-titled fifth album, commonly known as ‘The Black Album’.
In 1990 they scooped their first Grammy Award and in the years since, they’ve added another eight to the collection, along with Billboard Awards, MTV VMAs and two American Music Awards.
Now though, they’re getting ready to go where just a handful of metal bands have succeeded before - Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage.
As Metallica get ready to headline the Worthy Farm festival, we’re taking a look back at their 31 years in rock with 31 rare pictures of the ‘One’ creators...
