Metallica's current lineup comprises founding members and primary songwriters Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo.

Guitarist Dave Mustaine, who formed Megadeth after being fired from Metallica, and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted are former members of the band.

[11] The song generated word of mouth, and the band played its first live performance on March 14, 1982, at Radio City in Anaheim, California, with newly recruited bassist Ron McGovney.

"[14] Although Burton initially declined the offer, by the end of the year, he had accepted on the condition that the band move to El Cerrito in the San Francisco Bay Area.

[15] Metallica's first live performance with Hammett was on April 16, 1983, at a nightclub in Dover, New Jersey, called The Showplace;[14] the support act was Anthrax's original lineup, which included Dan Lilker and Neil Turbin.

[27] Metallica's growing success was such that the band's British label, Music for Nations, released "Creeping Death" as a limited-edition single, which sold 40,000 copies as an import in the U.S. Two of the three songs on the record – cover versions of Diamond Head's "Am I Evil?"

[33] Roughly 40 people – including Hammett's childhood friend, Les Claypool of Primus; Troy Gregory of Prong; and Jason Newsted, formerly of Flotsam and Jetsam – auditioned for the band to fill Burton's spot.

[26] Hetfield said in the 2004 documentary film Metallica: Some Kind of Monster that the band initially thought some of the songs on these albums were of average quality; these were "polished and reworked" until judged releasable.

[69] Kevin Forest Moreau of Shakingthrough.net said, "the guitars stumble in a monotone of mid-level, processed rattle; the drums don't propel as much as struggle to disguise an all-too-turgid pace; and the rage is both unfocused and leavened with too much narcissistic navel-gazing".

On September 2, 2008, a record store in France began selling copies of Death Magnetic nearly two weeks before its scheduled worldwide release date,[83] which resulted in the album being made available on peer-to-peer clients.

Rumors of Metallica or Warner Bros. taking legal action against the French retailer were unconfirmed, though drummer Lars Ulrich responded to the leak by saying, "...We're ten days from release.

[96] Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax performed on the same bill for the first time on June 16, 2010, at Warsaw Babice Airport, Poland, as a part of the Sonisphere Festival series.

[124][125] On November 10, it was announced that Metallica would headline the main stage on Saturday June 9, 2012, at the Download Festival at Donington Park and that the band would play The Black Album in its entirety.

[156] On June 14, 2015, Hetfield and Hammett performed The Star-Spangled Banner live via electric guitars prior to game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.

[162] On August 18, 2016, the band announced via their website that their tenth studio album, Hardwired... to Self-Destruct, would be released worldwide on November 18, 2016, via their independent label, Blackened Recordings.

[179] S&M2 went on to earn $5.5 million at the box office, making it the biggest global rock event cinema release of all time; a second screening was later announced for October 30 as a result.

[193][194] In March 2020, the band began a series on YouTube and Facebook called #MetallicaMondays, where they streamed full archived shows every Monday to relieve boredom while staying home and social distancing amid the pandemic.

[213][214] In an interview on Loudwire Nights radio program in April 2023, Ulrich stated that "there [were] some ideas [Metallica] could start with" for the follow-up to 72 Seasons, adding, "I'm looking forward to going live and being in sharing mode for the next couple of years.

[237] He also said Metallica expanded its compositional technique and range of expression to take on a more aggressive approach in following releases, and lyrics dealt with personal and socially conscious issues.

[56] David Fricke of Rolling Stone described the move as "goodbye to the moldy stricture and dead-end Puritanism of no-frills thrash", and called Load the heaviest record of 1996.

[244] As a return to Metallica's thrash roots, Death Magnetic was a riff-oriented album featuring intense guitar solos and subtle lyrics about suicide and redemption.

[245] In February 2017, Metallica launched All Within My Hands Foundation, "dedicated to creating sustainable communities by supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other critical local services".

[260] Gojira lead guitarist Christian Andreu said it was while listening to Ride the Lightning that he started making music; saying "we find on the album 'Fade to Black', 'For Whom the Bell Tolls', emblematic pieces".

[264] God Forbid guitarists Doc and Dallas Coyle were inspired by Metallica as they grew up, and the band's bassist John Outcalt admires Burton as a "rocker".

Metallica's induction into the Hall included its current lineup, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo, and Lars Ulrich, and former members Jason Newsted and Cliff Burton.

Harmonix' video game series Rock Band included "Enter Sandman" and "Battery"; "Ride the Lightning", "Blackened", and "...And Justice for All" were released as downloadable tracks.

[288] Mustaine continued to make numerous inflammatory statements against his former band in the press due to buried tension primarily stemming from his firing in 1983 among other issues such as existing songwriting credits across Metallica's first three albums.

[294] That same year, Mustaine took part in Metallica's exclusive 30th anniversary show in San Francisco which invited other former members: Ron McGovney, Lloyd Grant, and Jason Newsted.

[303] Following his hiring in 1986, former bassist Jason Newsted had regularly experienced incidents of hazing and a perceived lack of acceptance from his bandmates despite his strong efforts in a majority of the band's live performances.

[304] Many fans and outlets cite the band's fourth album's unusual mixing to drown the bass tracks as a possible effort by Hetfield and Ulrich to minimize Newsted's involvement.