In a candid conversation on The Surfer's Journal's Soundings podcast, Robert Trujillo shared the unforgettable experience of joining Metallica and the overwhelming moment captured in the Some Kind of Monster documentary. As fans might remember, during an early meeting with his new bandmates, Trujillo was awarded a $1 million signing bonus, a moment he described as "weird" and "surreal."
Reflecting on the experience, Trujillo said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): "Well, that was weird and that was surreal. I guess I didn't believe it. It didn't seem real. It's funny, 'cause you don't actually ever… It's there, but it's not there. Everybody says, 'Wow, man.' After taxes, it's a little different than a million dollars. I guess I got so consumed with the workload to where I was, like, 'Okay, that's cool.' But then in my head, I'm, like, 'It's time to get to work. I've got this mountain of catalog to learn.'"
"And then there was this new album, 'St. Anger', that they hadn't even played live yet, 'cause that album was created in the studio," Trujillo remembered. "So now I've gotta learn these songs. And I just saw it as, like, 'I've got a lot of work ahead of me. I'm not gonna worry about… I'm not gonna think about the money. I'm not gonna celebrate what's going on because I've got work to do.' I remember I didn't go home for, like, six months, almost. I might've gone home for a night or two to go get some clothes or whatever I needed and to bring it back up north, but I basically moved to San Francisco right at that moment. And my life changed forever."
Trujillo recounted the audition process for Metallica to be divided into two: "And it wasn't two in a row. There was one and then there was another one — I don't know — five months, four months, three months later; I don't remember."
At the time, Trujillo was part of Ozzy Osbourne’s band, and the transition wasn’t without its complications. He recounted a pivotal moment when Osbourne himself reached out to ask about future tours. Trujillo explained, "When things got more serious after the second audition, it was interesting because I had gotten a call from Ozzy, and Ozzy never called me. You always hear from someone from the management team or maybe Sharon might call — Sharon Osbourne, his wife. But Ozzy never called me. And I get this call from him, and he's, like 'Hey, Rob. Hey, listen, let's go on the road, man. I'm ready. Ozzfest. We're playing, right?' And I'm, like, 'Yeah.' 'Cause I hadn't heard from Metallica about whether I got the gig yet. So I was, like, excited. 'Yeah, I get to go back to work.' 'Cause he started doing Black Sabbath at the time — they reunited, and so everything was revolving around Sabbath, which is awesome. But I wasn't working. So I was, like, 'Wow, it's exciting. I get to go back on the road and get back to work.'"
Just as Trujillo was preparing for Ozzfest, Metallica came forward with their own offer, putting him in a tough position: "And literally, like, two days later or the next day, I get a call from Lars saying, 'Hey, we want you to come up here and we wanna talk to you.' So I'm, like, 'Okay.' They're not telling me I got the gig. I always think of worst-case scenario. And they're the kind of guys that would have you fly up there to tell you you didn't get the gig. They're just kind of wired that way. Like, 'We just wanted to tell you in person, 'cause we respect you, you didn't get the gig' — something like that. So I'm preparing for that. But I'm not sure. And Ozzy had just called me, so I was, like, 'Wait, this is crazy. This is weird.'"
"So I go up there, and, yeah, that's where the meeting was with the money offer and all that. And, again, my head's spinning, like, 'Okay, I've gotta learn 30 years of catalog.' It was just kind of like a washing machine rinse cycle going off in my brain. And so, basically, now I'm thinking about Ozzy, and I told 'em — and I don't even know why I said this, but I was always trying to be loyal to Ozzy and Sharon; they did so much for me. So I was, like, 'Well, I don't think I can do those dates. But when I finish my commitment with Ozzy' — whatever, eight-week run it was — I'll jump on board," Trujillo reminisced.
"And I remember Lars goes, 'We respect your loyalty. It's very honorable. But this train is leaving, and it's moving fast, and you've gotta jump on board and jump on with us.' I'm, like, 'Okay.' So I flew home that night, and I actually went to Sharon and Ozzy's house and met with Sharon and said, 'Yeah, I'm gonna join Metallica.' And it was heavy. Yeah, it was just heavy 'cause I think when it's all said and done, every musician, you're writing music, you're creating, you're performing, so it's all passion-driven. So it's hard when you're losing a team member. Especially I had been playing with Ozzy for, like, seven years. So it was difficult, but I also felt that I needed to be there in person to tell him and tell her. And so that's basically kind of how that went down. There were never any bad vibes… Usually, when that happened in the past, it could get pretty ugly with anybody. I mean, you're leaving a team, and it's not good. And then, again, like I said, my life changed. All of a sudden I was a part of a new family, and I was living in a new area and it was just a different existence."
