Lars Ulrich co-wrote Metallica's “Nothing Else Matters” with James Hetfield. The song appears as track eight on The Black Album and became one of the band's most recognizable recordings.
Hetfield initially wrote the song's opening guitar figure while he was on tour and was reluctant to show it to the rest of the band because he viewed it as personal. Ulrich heard the idea, and the two developed it into a full Metallica arrangement. The final recording included orchestral parts, helping distinguish it from the band's earlier, more aggressive material.
The song was released as the album's third commercial single on April 20, 1992. Its broad appeal sometimes leads listeners to treat it as a solo Hetfield composition, but the official songwriting credit includes Ulrich. Kirk Hammett and Jason Newsted performed on the album, yet neither is credited as a co-writer of this particular song.