Torben Ulrich, father of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, has died aged 95.
Lars took to social media today (December 21) to share the news. The cause of death had not been released at the time of publication. Lars wrote on Instagram: “95 years of adventures, unique experiences, curiosity, pushing boundaries, challenging the status quo, tennis, music, art, writing… and plenty of Danish contrarian attitude.”
He continued in the post: “Thank you so much! I love you dad.”
Torben Ulrich, born 4 October 1928 in Denmark, was a tennis professional, film director, musician, poet, radio and newspaper journalist and painter.
Between the 1940s and 1980s, Torben Ulrich spent most of his time as a professional tennis player, while still dabbling in various art forms, including music, film and journalism. During his tenure as a tennis professional, Ulrich had played and won many tournaments, including the Stuttgart Open in 1953. He also reportedly played over 100 Davis Cup matches, although he did not win the tournament.
In addition to tennis, Torben Ulrich was also a jazz enthusiast, interning for Reuters and contributing to several Danish jazz magazines. In the 1950s, he formed a New Orleans-inspired jazz band in which he played clarinet.
In 2005, he formed a collaborative improvised music group called Instead Of, with Lori Goldston – who had worked with Nirvana – and other musicians such as Angelina Baldoz and Jaison Scott. In 2021 – at the age of 92 – the album “Oakland moments: cello, voice, reunion (joy)” with Lori Goldston was released.
Torben has co-directed two films. 1988 The ball and the wall with Gil de Kermadec and in 2002 Body & Being: Before The Wall with Rick New and Molly Martin. He had also appeared in films by Jørgen Leth, Motion pictures (1969) and Game moments (1986).
Ulrich was especially beloved by Metallica fans after being featured in the band's 2004 documentary Some kind of monster that he had told his son Lars to “delete” an entire song because the track didn't “cut it” — a line that has since become a meme in relation to “St.” by Metallica. Anger record.
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