Robert Trujillo (/truːˈhiːjoʊ/ troo-HEE-yoh, Spanish: ; born October 23, 1964) is an American musician and songwriter. He has been the bassist of the American heavy metal band Metallica since 2003. He was a member of crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies, funk metal supergroup Infectious Grooves, heavy metal band Black Label Society, and has worked with Jerry Cantrell and Ozzy Osbourne.
Trujillo was born in Santa Monica, California on October 23, 1964. He is of Mexican and Native American descent. He grew up in Culver City, California, where his father was a teacher at Culver City High School. Trujillo garnered interest in music during his childhood; his mother was a huge fan of Motown, particularly musicians like Marvin Gaye, James Brown, and Sly and the Family Stone. Trujillo stated that "Jaco was my hero growing up", and that the iconic jazz bassist changed his view of what the instrument could play: "Hearing him was like hearing Eddie Van Halen doing "Eruption" for the first time: You thought, 'What instrument is that?' I loved jazz fusion and branched out from there. But Jaco had an edge that far exceeded his jazz persona. He was funk, he was rock, he was soul. And his whole attitude was punk." He began playing in "a lot of backyard party bands", playing music by Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Rush, and Led Zeppelin. He went to jazz school when he was 19 with the intention of becoming a studio musician, but he maintained his passion for rock and metal.