METALLICA's LARS ULRICH: Interview To Air On U.K.'s BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC

November 14, 2013

According to The Hollywood Reporter, U.K. digital radio station BBC Radio 6 Music will air an interview with Lars Ulrich this holiday season.

"The First Time With Lars Ulrich" sees the METALLICA drummer discuss his childhood in Denmark, the early days of METALLICA through to the arena gigs, his friendship with Noel Gallagher, as well as his music passions — from Ennio Morricone to the ARCTIC MONKEYS.

Ulrich last month broke the band's silence following the death October 27 of rock legend Lou Reed, who passed away from liver disease at the age of 71. METALLICA collaborated with Reed on the 2011 concept album "Lulu", and although the disc was a commercial and critical disaster, it stands for now as the last musical work recorded and released by the former THE VELVET UNDERGROUND frontman. Amid a flood of tributes and comments from musicians all over the world following Reed's death, METALLICA did not issue any sort of official statement.

Speaking to the U.K.'s Guardian, Ulrich said that the band had last communicated with Reed in September. He was supposed to come to their Apollo Theater show in New York on September 21, but was unable to make it because of his failing health. Ulrich said, "I didn't know it was that serious. So I was half shocked and half crushed — shocked that he went so quickly and crushed over the loss."

Ulrich added, "METALLICA's always been autonomous, and Lou Reed is the godfather of being an outsider, being autonomous, marching to his own drum, making every project different from the previous one and never feeling like he had a responsibility to anybody other than himself. We shared kinship over that . . . We brought somethingg to each other, and we shared a common lack of ability to fit in with our surroundings."

Ulrich said he "wasn't surprised" when the hard rock community turned its back on "Lulu", although he added, "25 years from now, you're going to have millions of people claiming they owned the record or loved it when it came out, of course neither will be true. I think it's going to age well."

The drummer said about Reed, "I'll always remember his fragility. I felt in some way that I connected to his fragility, and identified with it. He was very open, he would say, 'Lars, I love you,' and text me a heart. It was so beautiful. The way he was so unfiltered is what I will remember most, and his fragility, and how I've never met anybody who, no matter what he was saying, he was always speaking his truth."

Ulrich called Reed "the most accomplished poet within the world of rock'n'roll over the last four decades."

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