La bande a été fondée lorsque James Hetfield a répondu à une publicité que le batteur Lars Ulrich avait affichée dans un journal local.
The band got started after drummer Lars Ulrich placed an advertisement in a newspaper saying that he was looking for some musicians to play material consisting of Tygers of Pang Tang, Diamond Head and Led Zeppelin with. James Hetfield, a guitar player who would become the lead singer of Metallica, answered the advertisement.