Rock & Metal

Why Did Dave Mustaine Leave Metallica?

Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Dave Mustaine didn’t leave Metallica but he was fired from the world’s best metal band of all time. He was kicked from the band due to his troubling and alcoholic behavior.

When Dave was in Metallica he used to be a lead guitarist of the band, currently, Kirk Hammet holds the position of the lead guitarist at Metallica.

Mustaine was not just a lead guitarist but also an original member of this metal and hard rock band.

All members of Metallica were alcoholic and loud when they consumed the booze but in the case of Mustaine it was a bit different, James Hetfield has said in an interview about Dave’s behavior after he got high. Where he said, Dave Mustaine’s Behavior was out of control towards other band mates.

But clearly, Dave didn’t agree with these facts and he stated that he got hurt and was always thinking of his bandmates.

The moment was hard for Dave, he was devasted and was not ready to accept the fact he was going to be kicked out of the band.

“Because you know there was a lot of jealously and a lot of me dealing with what was going on in my head, watching these guys achieve this stellar position in the industry and I’m still working”

Dave Mustaine’s wild behaviors

Back in the ’80s when Metallica was struggling for success, Dave used to have a serious drug and alcohol problem as we already stated. One time when Dave brought his dog to the rehearsal show and it jumped into bassist Ron’s car scratching all the paint in the car.

James kicked the dog and yelled at Dave for this which created an instant fight among the band mates which turned to be a serious fight.

Again, after some time when Dave poured all the beers from the cans onto Ron’s guitar, which gave him an electrical shock while playing.

April 11, 1983 morning was a nightmare for Dave, when he was sleeping, other Metallica members woke him up and said, “Dave, you are fired, and we have already hired another lead guitarist.”

This morning was devasting to Mustaine he lose his temper and got mad he recalls the memory, “The thing that really upset me was that they never gave me a warning and I never got a second chance,” Mustaine says. “It was just, ‘Hey man. You’re out. See ya later.”

“When you’re around a lot of people that like to drink and get silly, they just want to have fun,” Mustaine explains. “I would drink and have fun until someone would refute something I had said. And then that was war, baby. I’d be aggressive and confrontational because I was a violent drunk. I lost all inhibitions when I was drinking, and that didn’t go over too well in the end.”

This was the time when Metallica was recording their debut album Kill ‘Em All, but sadly, Mustaine was leaving for his home and other bandmates were leaving for the studio to record the album.

After Leaving Metallica He formed Megadeth

Leaving the band was not easy for Dave, he was mentally disturbed and mad for a long time. When he was kicked out of the band, his team didn’t buy him a plane ticket so, he took a 4-day ride bus from Manhattan to California.

This 4-day long bus journey was not just for Dave but it was the starting of Megadeth’s journey too. On the bus trip, Dave began to write some lyrics.

After this incident, Dave went to rehab, and he formed a metal band named Megadeth to revenge on Metallica.

Write A Comment