metallica

A San Francisco metal band (1981- ). Considered by many to be the most influential band of the 1980s. Many of their songs are landmarks of the 80s particularly "One", "Master of Puppets", "Fade to Black" and "Four Horsemen". Like all bands, Metallica has undergone quite a few traumatic events, most notably the bizarre death of bassist Cliff Burton. The band also gained a measure of notoriety for rejecting Dave Mustaine who would go on to form Metallica's chief rival Megadeth, and for challenging the P2P version of Napster. Their best-selling album happens to be their eponymous Black Album that sold 16,000,000 copies, catapulting the band into becoming the best-selling act in 25 years. Estimates of sales range from 80 to well over 100 million. Many believe Metallica to be in rapid decline after the release of three sub-optimal albums (see Load, Reload, and St. Anger).