Metallica’s Road to the World’s 7 Continents
In 2013, after decades of selling millions of records, Metallica accomplished what no other independent musical act had accomplished — it performed in all seven continents.
Here’s a snapshot of what the band had going on for them during each stop along the road of this historic feat.
Anaheim, California (March 14, 1982)
The band’s first lineup consisted of lead singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist Ron McGovney. In 1982, the four young men — all still teens besides Mustaine — performed at their first ever concert together at Radio City in Anaheim, California. The set consisted of mostly cover songs as well as “Hit the Lights” and “Jump in the Fire,” both of which would appear in Metallica’s first LP “Kill ‘Em All.” Approximately 75 people showed up to the venue.
Zürich, Switzerland (Feb. 3, 1984)
Metallica’s first show outside of the United States took place in Switzerland. The “Seven Dates of Hell” Tour featured Metallica as the supporting act for British metal band Venom. By this point, Cliff Burton took McGovney’s place on bass and Kirk Hammett replaced Mustaine, leading to one of the band’s most recognizable lineups. Metallica’s set featured songs from “Kill ‘Em All” which was released in July 1983.
Tokyo, Japan (Nov. 15, 1986)
By this point, Metallica had released “Ride the Lightning” and “Master of Puppets,” two of its most popular works yet. “Master of Puppets” reached gold certification 8 months after its release, becoming Metallica’s first gold album. By this stage, if Metallica hadn’t already captured the world’s attention, they certainly started causing ears to perk up.
Just two months prior to this date, tragedy struck the band, fans and the metal world after Burton’s untimely death following a serious tour bus accident. After a gut wrenching audition process, the remaining members of the band put their trust in Jason Newsted to become the band’s next bassist. Other notable names that auditioned include Les Claypool and Troy Gregory.
Oceania: Auckland, New Zealand (May 1, 1989) & South America: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Oct. 4, 1989)
Metallica released “...And Justice For All,” its first album since Burton’s passing, on September 7, 1988. Featured in the rollout was Metallica’s first ever music video for the single “One.”
Along with the band getting its first Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for the album, the members performed “One,” a song about the horrors during and after war based on the novel “Johnny Got His Gun,” live at the 1989 awards. In one of the most controversial Grammy moments to this day, the award was given to Jethro Tull for “Crest of a Knave.”
By this point Hetfield had also broken his wrist skateboarding. Twice.
Africa: Centurion, South Africa (Mar. 18, 2006)
Easily the most popular metal group at this point, the group kept busy in between the time they had until they made it to Africa for the first time.
On February 21, 1990 the band won its first Grammy for Best Metal Performance for its single “One.” The band went on to win 7 more Grammys in this time span. It also released a total of 7 albums including 4 studio albums.
On August 12, 1991, “Metallica,” also known as “The Black Album,” released and officially shot the band into superstardom. The album debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. charts. As of 2025, the LP has spent over 800 non-consecutive weeks on Billboard 200, making Metallica the fourth act to achieve this feat and allowing it to enter a room with fellow legends Bob Marley, Pink Floyd and Journey.
The band went on to promote the album on tour, including headlining Woodstock 1994, for the next three years before returning to the studio. The band’s commercial success continued as they saw two more No. 1 albums with “Load” releasing in 1996 and “Reload” in 1997. As of 2026, “Reload” is Metallica’s fastest album to reach gold and platinum certifications, doing so in just 24 days.
In 1999, Metallica released S&M, a live album and concert film featuring the band and the San Francisco Symphony performing Metallica songs together. This was another popular album, reaching No. 2 in the United States and No. 1 in Australia.
Newsted left the band at the beginning of 2001, citing personal reasons. Before Metallica returned to the studio, Hetfield entered rehab and the band wouldn’t return to the studio until April 12, 2002.
With the band having not yet found their next person to round out the rhythm section, producer Bob Rock stepped in to play bass on St. Anger, which was released in 2003. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, but it was met with mixed reviews by critics.
Following three months of auditions, Metallica landed on their next bassist — former Suicidal Tendencies and Ozzy Osbourne member Robert Trujillo.
Antarctica: South Shetland Islands, Antarctica (Dec. 8, 2013)
In 2008, Metallica released its 9th studio album “Death Magnetic.” The album was produced by Rick Rubin and debuted at No. 1, making Metallica the first band to have five consecutive studio albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
And to put an exclamation on this historic achievement, Metallica was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a year later in 2009.
They won Grammys. They had multiple platinum and No.1 albums. They had a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. Even with all these accomplishments, the pioneers of thrash metal knew that they still had more frontiers they could reach.
In 2013, Metallica played in a small dome near Carline Base in Argentine Antarctica. Members of the audience of 120 people included the base’s research team members and winners of a Coca Cola Company sweepstakes. This concert made them not only the first band to perform in all seven continents, but the first band to perform in all seven continents in the span of a single year.
In order to prevent noise pollution, the entire show was transmitted to the audience through headphones.
The hour-long concert became available to stream later that year. In 2015 Metallica released a documentary behind the concert.
