James Hetfield/Lars Ulrich
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | James Hetfield/Lars Ulrich |
| Alternative name(s): | Hetrich, Jlars |
| Gender category: | Slash m/m |
| Fandom: | Metallica |
| Canonical?: | no |
| Prevalence: | |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
James Hetfield/Lars Ulrich is one of the most popular pairings in Metallica fandom. It was a fairly small pairing when it was first written about but as time has gone by it has become a very well-known pairing within the fandom with the most stories on AO3. It was one of the most featured ship on a Zetaboard called Fictionallica, which was active from 2010 to 2016 but has been inactive ever since.
Fandom
Origins
They met through an ad Lars left in the Los Angeles newspaper "The Recycler" in late 1980, reading: "Drummer looking for other metal musicians to jam with, Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head, and Iron Maiden." James Hetfield, with buddy Hugh Tanner, ended up calling Lars and played together one time.
James recalls the event: "I went to his house and woah, man… it was a very interesting smell. A very Danish type of armpit smell.” During the jam session, "Lars had a pretty crappy drum kit, with one cymbal. It kept falling over, and we'd have to stop, and he'd pick the fucking thing up. He really was not a good drummer. We told him after the thing, 'Yeah, we'll give you a call,' and we never even called him back!"
Even though their first meeting wasn’t a success, Lars didn’t give up. In the summer of ’81, Lars went on tour with New Wave Of British Heavy Metal band Diamond Head. Once the tour ended, he was more determined than ever to start a band after gaining more music experience. And when he came back, Lars got the chance he needed.
After gaining a spot on Brian Slagel's first compilation album "Metal Massacre" Lars called as many people as he could to form a make-shift band. Then, he discovered the band name after "stealing" it from a brainstorming session with his friend Ron Quintana (who would later go on to run the fanzine; Metal Mania), and it was a winner for sure: Metallica. But, with no band, Lars had to make one. Fast. And of all the people he knew, James was first on his list.
Lars recruited James and asked (re: begged) him to come down and record a song for the album. Sold on the idea of the record spot, James agreed. Together, they worked on a song together that was a mixture of an old Leather Charm song (from James’ previous band) and called it, "Hit the Lights" on the compilation album. It was recorded with James on vocals and rhythm guitar, Ron McGovney on bass, Lloyd Grant and Dave Mustaine both on lead guitar, and Lars on drums. The song would also end up on their first studio album Kill 'Em All, with James on vocals and rhythm guitar, Cliff Burton on bass, Kirk Hammett on lead guitar, and Ulrich on drums.
The two formed an immediate friendship in their love for music and drive for "world domination" with their band.
There are many interviews and quotes where both Ulrich and Hetfield can be credited for calling each other their wife in some sense. If you watch the band's commentary for the Some Kind of Monster documentary you can hear James say, "it's like the first time someone brings up the word divorce" about halfway through in describing his relationship with Lars at that point in time.
Later Years
It took a few years for them to rebuild their relationship not only as bandmates but also as friends. You can see it in the quotes presented below.
Hetfield on his relationship with Ulrich:
Yes, we’re married. There’s no doubt about that.- James Hetfield, May 13, 2011 Absent screening, Mesa, AZ
Ulrich on his relationship with Hetfield:
James is like the brother I never had--or the wife I should've stayed married to.- Lars Ulrich, The Culture Show, 2008
Tropes
In Fanfiction, they are perceived as the married couple of the fandom who have either been together since the very beginning and are still going strong, the once lovers who had a falling out and are now better off as friends. Others are that they were both too shy to voice their feelings for one another until they were much older or that they are just very close friends who have known each other for a long time.
Fan Works
Fan Fiction
AO3 is home to 148 Metallica fics centered around James and Lars. [1] The first Displays of Affection, being backdated as far as the early 2000s by rsadelle originally posted to the Metslash Archive. It made its way to AO3 either in the early 2000s after AO3 was in open beta or after Metslash was no longer online.
Rockfic is also home to a large number of James/Lars fics but given the site's tagging system not originally having a pairing tag until recently, it's hard to determine an actual number.
Fan Art
Fan Blog
Resources
- MARRIED: The James Hetfield/Lars Ulrich Manifesto. - a James and Lars Primer by cobrasnaps
References
- ^ AO3 ship tag, with 138 fics (last updated March 31, 2022)
- ^ James and Lars fan-fun Tumblr blog, Active from 2011 - 2016.