Metallica considered making Lars Ulrich frontman

Lars Ulrich was considered for the job of Metallica frontman — Frontman Lars Ulrich.....? (Image credit: Getty)

Original Metallica manager Jon ‘Jonny Z’ Zazula says the band briefly considered making Lars Ulrich the frontman.

Zazula managed the band for a spell from 1982 and recalls James Hetfield’s early nerves over handling lead vocal duties. One proposed suggestion was moving Ulrich from the drum stool to the mic.

Zazula tells Metal Hammer: “Lars and I planned a lot of stuff. But James wasn’t the most confident of singers. I don’t think he felt comfortable.

“At one point there was even talk of Lars becoming the frontman. For about five seconds.”

Hetfield soon came into his own as the band created their 1983 debut Kill ‘Em All.

Metallica are the cover stars in the latest issue of Metal Hammer magazine, which explores the creation of Kill ‘Em All in detail.

The band – who are working on their 10th album – recently reissued Kill ‘Em All and its follow-up Ride The Lightning.

Watch this man play 99 Metallica songs in 10 minutes

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.