Metallica Tried To Hire New Singer, Rejected Popular Bassist

Metallica wanted to hire singer in 80’s

John Bush recently opened up about Metallica‘s multiple attempts to recruit him as lead singer in the 1980’s. James Hetfield was unsure of his voice early on, and considered stepping back and just being rhythm guitarist.

Bush told Bravewords, “You know, I think before ‘Kill ‘Em All’ was recorded, it was really the first time. I think that they – my friend John Kornarens has a connection with them, and I still play pickup basketball with John. And he knew them, he was there like in the very, very early days of Metallica, him and Brian, actually, Brian Slagel.”

“He says, he always talks about the guest list name at a show they did where it said John Bush, ‘new singer,’ and I was on the list. And I was at Woodstock, which is in Orange County, probably in 1982. So that was the first time.”

“And then we got to know them because then we started playing shows with them, and that kind of came back up. And I guess that I was, you know, as again I’ve said this a million times, well, number one, I’m the guy who said ‘no’ to Metallica. So like, probably the biggest moron in the world. But it just really was never my destiny.”

Metallica rejected popular 90’s bassist

While Metallica almost had a different lead singer join, they also almost had a different bassist in the early 2000’s. Scott Reeder reflected on his experience auditioning for Metallica, describing it as feeling like he had won a “silver medal” in the “Metal Olympics” after losing out to Robert Trujillo. Eric Avery from Jane’s Addiction and David Ellefson from Megadeth were also considered to be Metallica bassist.

The California-born bassist enjoyed a successful career in the ’90s, becoming one of the most sought-after bassists in both the stoner and broader metal communities. After joining the reformed band Obsessed, he contributed to their iconic 1991 album, “Lunar Womb.”

Reeder then became an essential part of the creation of what many consider the magnum opus of Kyuss, the 1994 masterpiece “Welcome to Sky Valley.” In the early 2000s, he came close to replacing Jason Newsted in Metallica, but the position ultimately went to Robert Trujillo.

Scott Reeder talks about Metallica

Speaking to Guitar World in an interview, the bassist noted how the first time Metallica came calling was much earlier, right in the aftermath of Newsted’s departure:

“Somebody from their organization asked me if I would be interested, God, probably right after Jason was out. I was in the middle of making a record with Unida, and was like, ‘Thanks, but I’ve got to follow through with this thing. We’re kind of in the thick of it right now.'”

Lars Ulrich called Scott Reeder

Another call came later and this time from Lars Ulrich himself:

“I got another call, it had to be at least a year later, from Lars Ulrich. My wife and I have a 50-acre ranch, and I was outside shoveling some moldy hay into a wheelbarrow, and my wife comes out holding the phone… she thought it was a prank phone call.”

“We used to get prank phone calls from Maynard [James Keenan] from Tool. She’s all, ‘Says it’s Lars Ulrich,’ and she’s rolling her eyes. I grabbed the phone, and it was fucking Lars Ulrich. [Laughs] He said, ‘Hey, man, we’ve got to make a move here. We’ve got to pick a bass player, and would love it if you could come up and jam for a few days.'”

Reeder also decided to skip the first audition so that he could spend more time getting to grips with Metallica’s material, and afterwards went to the thrash giants’ HQ for a meeting, a part of which was captured on the “Some Kind of Monster” documentary. He added:

“They had their life-coach guy, Phil, who was part of everything. We walked for a while, and then we got to go in and jam, and it was so fun playing some of the classics. And the next day, they were in recording mode, working on ‘Some Kind of Monster’, and I was sitting on the couch next to James Hetfield while he’s cutting vocals.”

“I’m like, ‘Is it okay if I’m in here?’ He’s all, ‘If it wasn’t, I’d let you know, man. It’s cool.’ So, I’m sitting next to fucking Hetfield recording vocals for an album. That was pretty crazy.”

Metallica rejected Reeder with class

Reeder didn’t get the gig, but he noted how Metallica behaved with exceptional grace:

“We said our goodbyes, and the vibe was that I was going to come back at some point. Kirk [Hammett] said, ‘We haven’t seen the last of you, Reeder.’ And then, they called me, probably about a month later, a conference call with all the guys.”

“They said, ‘Hey, man, hope you’re doing okay. Just want to let you know we have our guy. But you’re family for life. You’re going to be a part of anything you want to be a part of. Let us know.'”

The bassist recalled how James Hetfield called him half an hour later to check up on him, and Reeder told the Metallica frontman:

“I told him, ‘Dude, if there were like the Metal Olympics or something, to get the silver medal. Not too shabby.'”