Why did Jason Newsted quit Metallica?
Whilst the late Cliff Burton is widely deemed Metallica’s ultimate bassist, his successor, Jason Newsted, also makes a strong claim for the title. He played with the thrash pioneers for 15 years after entering the fold in 1986, he joined in the wake of Burton’s tragic death, and his tenure saw Metallica enjoy their most commercially successful period, performing on four albums, including The Black Album.
Throughout his period with the band, Metallica crafted some of their best-loved tracks, including ‘One’ and ‘Enter Sandman’. After Burton’s death in 1986, the group auditioned over 50 musicians in their hunt for a new bassist, with the suitors including Les Claypool of Primus. Reportedly, of these, Newsted was the last in line, but some sharp manoeuvring would see him trump his rival contenders.
At the time of Burton’s death, Metallica were on tour as the opening act for Ozzy Osbourne. During a 2015 interview on VH1’s That Metal Show, Newsted revealed that he strategically got his hands on their setlist for the tour ahead of his audition. He then studied and learned the tracks before presenting the list to drummer Lars Ulrich as the ones he knew. Understandably, Ulrich was surprised by the apparent happenstance. Two days later, Metallica invited Newsted back and informed him that he had been selected to succeed Burton.
What ensued was a fruitful period for Metallica, with the 1988 record …And Justice for All hailed as one of their greatest efforts. Its follow-up, 1991’s Metallica, more commonly known as The Black Album, was a critical and commercial success that remains one of the best-selling albums worldwide. However, things would gradually slow down for this iteration of the group. During a meeting between the Metallica band members in January 2001, Newsted proposed that they take a year’s hiatus. He would then use the time to focus on his new side-project, Echobrain and release an album with them in the process.
The other members rejected the proposal, with it later revealed that frontman James Hetfield opposed it most. Duly, Newsted elected to quit Metallica. On January 17th, with plans to record their eighth album, which would eventually become the maligned 2003 effort St. Anger, Newsted publicly announced his departure. He cited “private and personal reasons and the physical damage I have done to myself over the years while playing the music that I love”. His last performance as Metallica bassist was at the My VH1 Music Awards in 2000.
Later, during a Playboy interview with Metallica in 2001, Hetfield explained why he opposed Newsted’s proposals. He believed that “when someone does a side project, it takes away from the strength of Metallica” and that a side project is “like cheating on your wife in a way”. Newsted then countered this claim by noting that Hetfield has contributed to the works of others, including appearances on two Corrosion of Conformity records. Hetfield replied: “My name isn’t on those records. And I’m not out trying to sell them” before asking questions such as, “Where would it end? Does he start touring with it? Does he sell shirts? Is it his band?”
Compounded by Hetfield checking into rehab, Newsted’s decision to quit Metallica nearly ended the band altogether. However, they would ultimately survive this crisis. Hetfield eventually regrouped with his bandmates, and they finished recording St. Anger between May 2002 and April 2003, with producer Bob Rock filling in on bass. Former Suicidal Tendencies member Robert Trujillo became their new bassist in February 2003 and still holds the position to this day.
Interestingly, Newsted has maintained that he has never regretted leaving Metallica, as it allowed him to flourish creatively. He told Rolling Stone in 2009: “I tell you very honestly, one billion per cent, I have never regretted leaving Metallica. It was the right thing for everyone. It was the right thing to do for the camp. That’s it. I’ve never told anyone that I wanted to go back or anything like that—not once. I made up my mind. It was not an easy thing to do, but it was something I had to do. I thought about it very much before I pulled the trigger and because of that, I have never looked back. The past is where it’s supposed to be.”
Speaking to Scuzz in 2013, Newsted provided more information on his departure. He claimed that Echobrain was discouraged by Hetfield because Metallica’s management team at Q Prime wanted to promote the new group. Per his account, they were forced to drop the matter by Hetfield, using the following quote: “other arrangements can be made”.
Newsted maintained that he was certain Echobrain wouldn’t affect Metallica’s operations. Of Q Prime and Hetfield, he said: “And so they had told me, pretty convincingly, ‘This is a great record, we’ve been playing it around the office, that’s all I’ve been hearing, it’s fantastic, this kid has a great voice. Let’s do something with this.’ That’s what they told me, and then James Hetfield heard about it and was not happy. He was, I think, pretty much out to put the kibosh on the whole thing because it would somehow affect Metallica in his eyes, because now the managers were interested in something I was doing that had nothing to do with him”.
Concluding this account, Newsted provided a damning account of Hetfield’s role in his decision to leave Metallica, saying: “I have no idea what [Hetfield] was thinking, other than just protecting what he valued, just like he does; that’s his thing. He protects what he loves, squeezes it too hard, like he said himself. Squeeze it too hard, protecting it too much. That’s where I was coming from. The people that I had counted on for 15 years to help me with my career, help Metallica, take care of my money, do all of those things, told me, ‘Your new project is fantastic, we’d like to help you with it.’ James heard about it, the manager calls me back a couple of days later – ‘Sorry we’re not going to be able to help you with that Echobrain thing’.”
Although Hetfield wholly believed that he was looking after the band’s interests at the time, he would later come to view his actions as authoritarian. These profound feelings led to him penning the song ‘All Within My Hands’, which later featured on St. Anger.
Ulrich also admitted that Newsted’s departure left a considerable mark on Metallica, expressing that his presence was overlooked, with him “never really fully accepted into the band”. He even opined that the irony of the incident was that the band they became after Newsted’s departure was “the perfect” version the bassist had once envisioned. Ulrich said: “The ironic thing is that the model for what would have been the perfect Metallica in Jason’s mind is the one that exists now. That is kind of ironic. It’s also a little sad, because Jason’s a good guy and he put a lot of effort into the band for many years, and in retrospect he was never really fully accepted into the band. Then when he tried to go elsewhere to satisfy his creative needs, he was told — well, barked at — that he couldn’t. [Newsted] was the sacrificial lamb for our spiritual and mental growth as well as our creative growth, and it just sucks. It’s medieval.”
Thankfully, there is somewhat of a happy ending to this tale. Despite leaving Metallica, Newsted remains close with his former bandmates. In 2009, he performed alongside the band and Trujillo at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, which showed there were no hard feelings between them.
