New information revealed about Lloyd Grant and the early Metallica timeline controversy

The release of Metal Blade’s “Metal Massacre I” collection on June 14, 1982, marked the beginning of Metallica. “Hit The Lights” was contributed by Metallica (spelled “Mettallica” on the first pressing), which included drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarists Dave Mustaine and Lloyd Grant, bassist Ron McGovney (who might or might not have participated in the song), and singer James Hetfield. Mustaine played both guitar solos on a new version of “Hit The Lights” on a second printing of “Metal Massacre I”, while Grant’s only contribution to the band was a guitar solo. The question is, does Grant qualify as a founding member of Metallica? In an interview with Reality Check TV at the NAMM convention, Grant stated that Metallica was still in its infancy and he wasn’t sure if they would have considered him an original member. Grant did, however, mention how often he and Ulrich jammed back then. Even though it’s not easily accessible, the original version of “Hit The Lights” is still making the rounds on YouTube. Grant and McGovney were invited to jam “Hit The Lights” with Metallica for their 30th anniversary shows in 2011 at the Fillmore in San Francisco, California, so it’s not like they’ve completely erased Grant’s history.

I don’t think Metallica wants to say I am an original member because the band weren’t really formed then. It was, like, I was looking for people to play with and we had a magazine, or a weekly that comes out on every Thursday, and Lars put an ad in and I answered the ad. And we started jamming and so forth.