Torben Ulrich, the daddy of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, has died on the age of 95.
Lars broke the unhappy information on Instagram on Wednesday (December twentieth), writing the next:
“Torben Ulrich: 1928-2023. 95 years of adventures, distinctive experiences, curiosity, pushing boundaries, difficult the established order, tennis, music, artwork, writing….and fairly a little bit of Danish contrarian perspective. Thanks endlessly! I really like you dad”.
Metallica followers will acknowledge Torben from his memorable look within the band’s Some Sort of Monster documentary. Within the movie, the senior Ulrich was invited to the recording studio to listen to an early model of the fabric that will grow to be 2003’s St. Anger. When requested for his opinion after listening to a track snippet, Torben uttered his now-famous line: “I might delete that.”
Lars has described his father as each Metallica’s greatest fan and critic.
“I believe he appreciates Metallica, particularly once we’re daring and somewhat unorthodox, once we play unusual sideways tempos … He appreciates that aspect of it,” mentioned Lars in a 2017 interview with SoundBox (as transcribed by Ultimate-Guitar). “After we play somewhat straighter and somewhat safer he raises an eyebrow.”
Torben was born in Copenhagen in 1928 and had a profitable profession as a semi-pro and later skilled tennis participant, competing in over 100 Davis Cup matches for his residence nation of Denmark. Along with his athletic accomplishments, Torben was additionally a multi-disciplinary artist, writing poetry, performing and recording music (releasing an album at age 92), performing, filmmaking, and extra.
Whereas a younger Lars Ulrich had comparable prospects of success as a tennis participant, Torben — who stored the corporate of hard-bop greats resembling Dexter Gordon (Lars’ godfather) — additionally inspired his son to pursue music and make his personal selections.
“I grew up in as open an upbringing as you’ll be able to think about,” mentioned Lars in a 1995 interview [via Blabbermouth]. “Individuals would name it spoiled. However I used to be very impartial. I had nothing tying me down. On the identical time, something I needed I needed to get it myself.”
Under you’ll be able to re-watch Torben’s iconic look in Some Sort of Monster and see Lars’ social media tribute.