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METALLICA's LARS ULRICH Was 'Incredibly Saddened' To Hear News Of TIMI HANSEN's Passing

November 5, 2019

METALLICA's Lars Ulrich has paid tribute to MERCYFUL FATE's Timi Hansen, calling him "part of a musical force that helped shape METALLICA's sound, direction and desire to be in a hard rock band."

Hansen died on Monday (November 4) after a long battle with cancer. His death was confirmed by his former bandmate, MERCYFUL FATE singer King Diamond.

Timi went public with his diagnosis in early August after it was announced that he wouldn't participate in MERCYFUL FATE's 2020 reunion. Filling in for him will be ARMORED SAINT and FATES WARNING bassist Joey Vera.

Earlier tonight, Ulrich took to his personal Instagram to share a photo of Hansen and wrote in an accompanying message: "Incredibly saddened to hear the news of Timi Hansen's untimely passing. He was not only a close friend of mine and a close friend of the band's, but he was part of a musical force that helped shape METALLICA's sound, direction & desire to be in a hard rock band.

"Timi was of course the OG bass player in MERCYFUL FATE, who most of you hopefully know have played a significant role in our history. Along with his fellow bandmates, King, Hank, Michael & Kim, they welcomed us to Denmark in 1984 with open arms, let us use their rehearsal studio where we wrote songs for the 'Ride The Lightning' album, leant us their equipment, showed us the best of Copenhagen, became our partners in crime....Over the years we enjoyed endless amounts of incredible moments together, including an almost complete reunion at our 30th Anniversary shows at the Fillmore in 2011. And ultimately, again as most of you know, we recorded 12 minutes of their finest musical moments as the track 'Mercyful Fate' on the 'Garage Inc.' album in '98 and have enjoyed playing that occasionally over the years with various members joining us for their respective parts."

Ulrich, a fellow Dane, also added a short message in Danish, writing: "Timi Forhelvede man, tak for de fede minder og for de fedeste stunder!"

MERCYFUL FATE will reunite for an unspecified number of concerts throughout Europe during the summer of 2020, including next year's edition of the Copenhell festival, set to take place June 17-20, 2020 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Lars played drums on a new version of MERCYFUL FATE's "Return of the Vampire" on the "In The Shadows" album, which came out in 1993.

METALLICA's medley of classic MERCYFUL FATE songs, "Mercyful Fate", included parts from "Satan's Fall", "Curse Of The Pharaohs", "A Corpse Without Soul", "Into The Coven" and "Evil".

View this post on Instagram

Incredibly saddened to hear the news of Timi Hansen’s untimely passing. He was not only a close friend of mine and a close friend of the band’s, but he was part of a musical force that helped shape Metallica’s sound, direction & desire to be in a hard rock band. Timi was of course the OG bass player in Mercyful Fate, who most of you hopefully know have played a significant role in our history. Along with his fellow bandmates, King, Hank, Michael & Kim, they welcomed us to Denmark in 1984 with open arms, let us use their rehearsal studio where we wrote songs for the “Ride the Lightning” album, leant us their equipment, showed us the best of Copenhagen, became our partners in crime....Over the years we enjoyed endless amounts of incredible moments together, including an almost complete reunion at our 30th Anniversary shows at the Fillmore in 2011. And ultimately, again as most of you know, we recorded 12 minutes of their finest musical moments as the track “Mercyful Fate” on the Garage Inc. album in ’98 and have enjoyed playing that occasionally over the years with various members joining us for their respective parts. Timi Forhelvede man, tak for de fede minder og for de fedeste stunder! Rest In Peace.

A post shared by Lars Ulrich (@larsulrich) on

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