Dec. 21 (UPI) — Torben Ulrich, the father of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, who became famous with a cameo appearance in the heavy metal band’s 2004 documentary, Some Kind of Monster, is dead at 95, Lars Ulrich announced in an Instagram post.
“Torben Ulrich: 1928-2023. 95 years of adventures, unique experiences, curiosity, pushing boundaries, challenging the status quo, tennis, music, art, writing… and quite a bit of Danish contrarian attitude. Thank you endlessly! I love you dad,” the post read.
The older Ulrich, a tennis star and music writer, ran in some of jazz’s most elite circles, and rubbed elbows with luminaries such as Sonny Rollins, Don Cherry and Dexter Gordon.
“Dexter Gordon was my godfather,” Lars said. “I used to play with Neneh Cherry when we were little kids. Her stepfather, Don Cherry, lived like six houses from where we lived in Copenhagen. Those types of people were always around. … Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman were always playing in the stereo around the house. Later it was the Doors and Jimi Hendrix.”
Lars called his father a major influence, reflected again on being surrounded by jazz greats as a youth and told Rolling Stone in 1995, “My dad was always around music.”
Torben Ulrich was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1928 and by the 1940s had become a top level tennis pro. He competed in the Tennis Grand Masters tour in the 1970s and 1980s, and represented Denmark in 102 Davis Cup matches. He was the world’s top-ranked senior player in 1976. At the same time, he was a music critic for Danish jazz magazines and newspapers, including Information and Politiken.
Torben’s father, and Lars’ grandfather, Einer, was also a tennis standout.
Torben Ulrich was an accomplished poet, artist, choreographer, actor and musician, with several albums to his credit in addition to his feats on the tennis court.
While he certainly didn’t compete on the music charts with his heavy metal superstar son, Torben released a jazz album in 2021 at the age of 92, titled Oakland Moments: Cello, Voice, Reuniting (Rejoicing), which was a collaboration with cellist and composer Lori Goldston.
