Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine recently answered a few of fan-submitted questions while speaking to Revolver magazine. During the chat, Mustaine spoke about his relationship with his former bandmate and Metallica frontman, James Hetfield.
Dave Mustaine recalls the altercation with James Hetfield
Mustaine went on to talk about a video clip of Hetfield that surfaced from last May in which the Metallica guitarist/vocalist told an audience in Brazil that he was “feeling a little bit insecure” prior to taking the stage. Mustaine, who played in Metallica for 11 months was kicked out of the band shortly before the recording of Metallica’s 1983 debut album “Kill ‘Em All”, said:
“I saw the thing with James on stage where he was saying that he was going through a rough patch. I was sad to see that because it’s been one of those really weird love-hate relationships. And the whole reason that I ever even pursued any of this was I really liked those guys. If I didn’t like ’em, I would just say, ‘F***ing flush the toilet and be done with it.’ He’s always been somebody that I really liked playing with.”
Talking about Metallica is always a sore spot for Dave, but he would continue.
Dave: I wished things wouldn’t have ended the way that they did. But que sera, sera [Spanish ‘Lo que será, será’ meaning ‘what will be, will be’]. It was a dumb thing that I did by taking my dog up to practice, and it was even dumber to punch [James]. I really respect him and I respect his playing. And I hope he knows that there are a lot of people out there, like me, that like him as a person and don’t give two f***s about him being in Metallica.”
Mustaine further claimed that an altercation with Hetfield led to him being fired from the band.
Dave: “I was selling pot,” Dave said. “When I would go play in concert, people knew that my pot was sitting in my apartment just saying, ‘Go ahead and keep me company.’ So I was broken in on. People stole everything that I had; all my stash. And I figured, screw this. I’m gonna get some dogs to stay in the apartment when I leave.
He would then close his statements.
Dave: “So I got two dogs and I took one of them up to a rehearsal one time and she put her paws up on Ron’s [McGovney, Metallica’s then-bassist] car. And James kicked it right in the side. And I was like, ‘What did you do?’ [And I was like] ‘It’s a dog, it’s what they do. You don’t kick animals.’ So we went into the house, and we started arguing some more. And I ended up punching him in the face and I think that was the root of why I lost my job.”
