Lars Ulrich never rehearsed until four or five years ago, says James Hetfield

METALLICA ABC/Randy Holmes (Randy Holmes/ABC)

By Josh Johnson

October 12, 2023 at 8:05 am EDT

Despite being the drummer in the biggest metal band in the world, the instrumental chops of Metallica's Lars Ulrich are often debated. The latest comments from frontman James Hetfield may only add fuel to that fire.

In the latest episode of The Metallica Report podcast, Hetfield shares, "An interesting fact: Lars never rehearsed. Ever."

However, he says that changed about four or five years ago.

"He started getting really into rehearsing," Hetfield says of Ulrich. "I mean, he'll rehearse four days for a two-hour set, which is what he needs to do, which is awesome."

As you might expect, the r/Metallica subreddit is all over this revelation.

Ulrich's been bringing his now-rehearsed drumming skills to Metallica's ongoing M72 world tour, which continues November 3 in St. Louis.