You may recall, a few years ago, Hulk Hogan was pushing this ridiculous rumor that he was once considered to be the replacement for Cliff Burton in Metallica. He told a UK tabloid, The Sun, a few years ago:
"I used to be a session musician before I was a wrestler. I played bass guitar. I was big pals with Lars Ulrich and he asked me if I wanted to play bass with Metallica in their early days but it didn't work out."
The quote went viral, and shortly after that Lars Ulrich was actually on the Howard Stern show and vehemently denied even knowing who Hogan was. His response was basically "Hulk who?"
And yet, even after getting that public bitchslapping, Hulk will not let it go. Recently, Noisey conducted an excellent interview with the Hulkster all about his history of musical endeavors. For example, Hogan was into music before wrestling:
I had been on the road for 10 years and I was a studio musician in Atlanta, a century artist. I started out playing guitar in junior high school, because I wasn’t a big sports guy. I was into music and had long hair. So I started out playing guitar, and as things go as a music kid, you start playing in bands. All of a sudden I got in a really good band playing guitar, but then this different really good guitar player came along—and this guy was really great. I had a choice: leave the band or start playing bass. So I chose to become a pretty darn good bass player.
He was also in a band called Ruckus. I wish there were some demo tapes around of that music, but there is not. Still, the interviewer asks him about his outrageous claims that he auditioned to be the bassist of Metallica and (BONUS BULLSHIT) that he auditioned for The Rolling Stones:
A little while ago there were a variety of stories in the media about your interest in joining Metallica and The Rolling Stones. Can you tell me about that?
Hogan: I had wrestled so long, and it got to the point where, with no Stone Cold, Rock, or HHH around, I was the only guy for a long time, so I had to be everywhere. We’d wrestle at one o’clock in the Philadelphia Spectrum, and then that night I’d be in Madison Square Garden. The next day at one o’clock I’d be in the Boston Gardens, then catch a plane and fly in to wrestle at the Los Angeles Forum that night. I didn’t really get tired but I was like, “Man, I’m killing myself.”I always still loved music. I was in the UK for some award show, and Jerry Hall, Mick Jagger’s old lady, was walking out with me to present this award. I heard her talking on the phone to Mick about “Oh, you got to find a bass player and you’ve only got two different choices.” I went “. . . what!?” She had already told me that her kids are big fans, and she wanted merchandise, so I was like, "All right, let’s reel her in." I was like “Look, I used to play bass. I know all the Rolling Stones songs. Tell Mick if you guys need a bass player for the Rolling Stones, I swear to god I could show up. I could rehearse one day and play everything they play. Please tell Mick, please tell Mick.” I got home, sent her all the merchandise—never heard a word back, right?
So then I heard that Metallica needed a bass player, and brother, I was writing letters, made a tape of myself playing and sent it to their management company. Kept making calls trying to get through. I tried for two weeks and never heard a word back from them either.
I would have quit wrestling to play in The Rolling Stones or Metallica like that [snaps fingers]. I was hoping for a call from them but never got one. All the haters were like “You never auditioned for Metallica!” Of course I didn’t—but I tried!
As I pointed out not too long ago, yet another reason why this story is complete bullshit is because Burton died right between WrestleMania 2 and WrestleMania III, which was quite literally the peak of Hogan's career. He was probably making the most money of his career back then and was a far bigger star than Metallica were at that time (this was before Justice). It makes absolutely no sense that he would do this. And yet Hogan will never admit he lied. Because a wrestler never admits!
