Metallica’s Lars Ulrich Celebrates Lou Reed in Heartfelt Tribute
Since rock legend Lou Reed passed away on Oct. 27, an incredible amount of musicians have offered their condolences. However, not much had been heard from the members of Metallica, who recorded the collaborative album 'Lulu' with Reed in 2011. However, one day shy of the 'Lulu' album's second anniversary, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has offered a lengthy and heartfelt tribute to Reed.
Although 'Lulu' was critically panned and commercially unsuccessful, recording the album created a very close bond between Reed and the thrash quartet. In a new article published by The Guardian earlier today (Oct. 30), Ulrich shares his fond memories of Reed.
"We were both outsiders," Ulrich shares. "We both never felt comfortable going down the same path that everyone else was doing. Metallica's always been autonomous, and Lou Reed is the godfather of being an outsider, being autonomous, marching to his own drum, making every project different from the previous one and never feeling like he had a responsibility to anybody other than himself. We shared kinship over that."
Ulrich goes on to describe how he feels 'Lulu' will be perceived in the future. "Twenty-five years from now, you're going to have millions of people claiming they owned the record or loved it when it came out, of course neither will be true," Ulrich predicts. "I think it's going to age well – when I played it yesterday it sounded f---ing awesome."
"I'll always remember his fragility," Ulrich recounts. "I felt in some way that I connected to his fragility, and identified with it. He was very open, he would say, 'Lars, I love you', and text me a heart. It was so beautiful. The way he was so unfiltered is what I will remember most, and his fragility, and how I've never met anybody who, no matter what he was saying, he was always speaking his truth."
To read the entirety of Lars Ulrich's memorial article on Lou Reed, head over to The Guardian.