Metallica’s Lars Ulrich “blown away” by messages of support after death of father

Metallica‘s Lars Ulrich has thanked fans after being “blown away” by messages of support following the passing of his father.

The drummer announced his father’s death in a post that was shared on his official Instagram page on December 20. He wrote: “Torben Ulrich: 1928-2023. 95 years of adventures, unique experiences, curiosity, pushing boundaries, challenging the status quo, tennis, music, art, writing….and quite a bit of Danish contrarian attitude. Thank you endlessly! I love you dad”.

On December 31, Ulrich took to social media to share another post thanking fans for showing love and support during the sad time. “Since my dad’s passing 10 days ago, there has been an unexpected influx of condolences, messages, stories and testimonies coming my way about how his life impacted and affected so many people in a variety of different ways; it’s honestly blown me away,” he wrote.

He continued: “As you can imagine it’s been quite a surreal time, so let me say from the heart how much I truly appreciate every single thought, sentiment, feeling and emotion you’ve kindly taken the time to share with me.It means so, so, so much…Thank you, thank you, thank you…”

Alongside being Lars’ father, Torben Ulrich was a tennis player and jazz writer. Lars’ tribute post to his dad featured a series of photos including a black and white portrait, a magazine cover naming him “The Ageless Guru of Tennis,” him playing the clarinet as well as shots of Lars as a child with Torben.

He was also said to be Metallica’s biggest fan as well as its biggest critic. In the band’s Some Kind Of Monster documentary, Torben famously told his son “I would delete that” after being asked his opinion of a new song by Lars during the writing session for Metallica’s 2003 LP ‘St. Anger’.  He continued: “For me, it doesn’t cut it. It sounds like a guy shouting in some kind of echo chamber.”

In 2021, Torben released his own jazz album at the age of 92. Titled ‘Oakland Moments: Cello, Voice, Reuniting (Rejoicing)’, the project featured him playing alongside cellist and composer Lori Goldston.

Elsewhere, Metallica recently released footage of ‘The Unforgiven’ from their first-ever concert in Saudi Arabia earlier this month.

The metal icons performed at Soundstorm festival in Riyadh on December 14 as their final show of 2023, which also marked their first gig in the country.