METALLICA's LARS ULRICH Was 'Devastated' By PRINCE's Death

August 19, 2016

Lars Ulrich says that he was "devastated" by the passing of legendary singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer Prince, explaining that METALLICA could relate to his resolve to make music on his own terms.

Prince's body was discovered on April 21 in the elevator of his Minnesota estate Paisley Park. The coroner later ruled that he had died of an accidental fentanyl overdose.

During yesterday's (Thursday, August 18) Facebook Live interview with the 93X radio station, Ulrich said about Prince's death: "I was devastated. I mean, he's obviously one of the biggest musical icons. Talk about someone who's a pioneer. What he did, not just for music and everything on the creative [end], but also on the business side. He sort of took a stance and never took the business side for granted and was pretty autonomous and kind of did his own thing, which is something that we can relate to."

He continued: "We've always considered ourselves in METALLICA to be a little bit sort of living in our own world and playing by our own set of rules, and I really, really respected and admired the fact that he didn't follow the way it was 'supposed' to be on the business side. So both sides — creatively and the other stuff — he was a true independent, which is what we consider ourselves to be, and a true pioneer."

Ulrich added: "So [it was] a tragic loss and, obviously, it would have been awesome to see what else would have come out for another thirty or forty years. But certainly I, as a fan, can't wait to see what happens when they open up the vaults. I'm sure there's some cool stuff in there."

METALLICA in 2012 launched a new record label, Blackened Recordings in conjunction with the band taking ownership of all their master recordings, including music and videos, as part of a contract provision METALLICA negotiated with Warner Bros. in 1994.

"It's always been about control for us as a band," Ulrich said at the time. "Forming Blackened Recordings is the ultimate in independence, giving us 100 percent control and putting us in the driver's seat of our own creative destiny."

Blackened Recordings will release METALLICA's new album, "Hardwired...To Self-Destruct", on November 18.

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