{"id":248311,"date":"2026-01-16T19:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T19:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/248311\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T19:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T19:30:10","slug":"the-story-behind-jason-newsteds-final-show-with-metallica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/248311\/","title":{"rendered":"The story behind Jason Newsted’s final show with Metallica"},"content":{"rendered":"

January 17, 2001, was the Ides Of March for Metallica<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On that day, bassist Jason Newsted<\/a> marched into a meeting with his three brothers-in-arms of 14 years and declared that he was quitting the band. It was an announcement that rocked the ostensible thrash metal monolith from within, swiftly followed by years of in-fighting and therapy, as well as singer\/guitarist James Hetfield<\/a>\u2019s admission into rehab. Heavy music\u2019s most formidable empire got close to toppling itself.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Although Jason\u2019s departure stunned Metallica into a battle for self-preservation, the writing had long been on the wall in the then-37-year-old\u2019s mind. His residence in the band had been built on shaky foundations.<\/p>\n

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When he auditioned to join in the autumn of 1986, James, drummer Lars Ulrich<\/a> and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett<\/a> were still grieving over the death of bassist Cliff Burton<\/a> in a traumatic bus crash mere weeks prior. The trio were young up-and-comers in the \u201980s metal scene, and management urged them to work the pain away rather than stamp the brakes of the locomotive.<\/p>\n

Jason quickly became the outlet for his cohorts\u2019 unexpressed anger as a result.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor him and for us, it was difficult,\u201d James reflected in a 2018 interview. \u201cPsychology 101 will tell you that all our grief and sadness got directed at him, and quite a bit of it was that he was an easy target…He was goofy enough to take it, which was a positive for him, and he was such a fan, and we hated that. We wanted to \u2018unfan\u2019 him.\u201d<\/p>\n

We were brothers, and I was trying so hard to keep that that I was choking Jason. That\u2019s how I was taught to control things: through intimidation and rage.<\/p>\n

James Hetfield<\/p>\n

Jason always took the hazing in good stride, however. It was some worthwhile adversity, he\u2019s since argued, considering he joined a band that had already worked their way into metal\u2019s highest echelons without him there. Plus, as the Michigan-born metalhead forged his own identity, pranks like making him think he\u2019d be paying for the whole entourage\u2019s restaurant dinners began to wane.<\/p>\n

Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

Jason never became a principal composer in Metallica: his near-decade-and-a-half stint yielded just three co-songwriter credits. Where the burgeoning fourth horseman proved himself was in the live arena.<\/p>\n

He was an animal onstage, to the point that his basses had to be tested underwater because of how much sweat cascaded from him on a nightly basis. Before long, Jason was taking lead vocals on performances of Whiplash, and the band still snarl his improvised backing vocals to Creeping Death<\/a> (\u2018Motherfucker, die!\u2019) at their shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cJason really developed into \u2018the live guy\u2019,\u201d James gushed on VH1\u2019s Behind The Music in 1998. \u201cHe is the neverending connection with the fans. He\u2019ll stop a fan and go looking for people to sign autographs for!\u201d<\/p>\n

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The person I respected the most disrespected me the most<\/p>\n

Yet, around the time that James was singing Jason\u2019s praises in TV documentaries, the frontman was also stifling his long-serving bassist. \u2018Side-project\u2019 had always been a four-letter word in Metallica, which left Jason, with such infrequent musical contributions, frustrated. His intention to moonlight with new alt-rockers Echobrain<\/a> during the thrashers\u2019 turn-of-the-millennium downtime was warmly welcomed by management\u2026 yet, the second James heard of it, that interest suspiciously vanished.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were brothers,\u201d James reflected in a 2003 MTV interview, \u201cand I was trying so hard to keep that that I was choking Jason…that\u2019s how I was taught to control things: through intimidation and rage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe person I respect the most disrespected me the most,\u201d Jason summarised.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Metallica\n<\/p>\n

The Jason-era Metallica in happier times on an MTV red carpet in 1996 (Image credit: Patrick Ford\/Redferns via Getty)<\/p>\n

As a result, the bassist knew he was out the door well before January 2001. He made the choice on September 27, 2000: 14 years to the day after Cliff\u2019s death. Metallica convened to film a documentary on the making of their blockbuster Black Album<\/a>, and Jason started handing out CDs of Echobrain music. James was not impressed.<\/p>\n

An argument erupted, and it would be the last time Metallica\u2019s four members were in the same spot for the remainder of the year. Well, except for one occasion. November 30, 2000: Jason Newsted\u2019s last stand on a Metallica stage.<\/p>\n

The scene was the My VH1 Music Awards: a new ceremony by the namesake TV network, among the first to use the fledgling internet and let fans vote on which nominees take home trophies. Metallica interrupted their unofficial hiatus to attend, 1998 live album S&M having been shortlisted for the \u201cBest Stage Spectacle\u201d prize.<\/p>\n

He basically just showed up. He didn\u2019t sit with us or hang or anything<\/p>\n

Lars Ulrich<\/p>\n

At the start of the evening, the band were prophetically divided in two. James, Kirk and Lars took their assigned seats in the auditorium for the ceremony, while Jason remained backstage, waiting in the wings in case he needed to walk out and pick up the award.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was just in his own cocoon,\u201d Kirk said in 2003. \u201cVery incommunicado.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lars added, \u201cHe basically just showed up. He didn\u2019t sit with us or hang or anything. It was just like, \u2018OK.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

When Metallica won Best Stage Spectacle, the quartet reunited. Jason blanked James and Lars as they came together, yet squeezed Kirk in a bearhug. The lead guitarist was the only one who truly appreciated Jason\u2019s seriousness about vacating the most lucrative act in heavy metal<\/a> history.<\/p>\n

\n

\"James,\n<\/p>\n

James, Kirk and Lars at the VH1 Awards in 2000 (Jason very much not included) (Image credit: Frank Trapper\/Corbis via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cSeptember 27, I told him that night,\u201d Jason remembered on Scuzz Meets in 2013. \u201c[Kirk replied,] \u2018You better think about that for a while. You really better think about that.\u2019\u201d Although Lars was also forewarned by the bassist, the drummer allegedly quipped in response, \u201cI\u2019ll beat you out the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following an acceptance speech where Jason was uncharacteristically quiet, Metallica returned later the same night to perform Fade To Black<\/a> for the cameras. The bassist was languishing in visible misery, keeping mostly to himself throughout the seven-minute ballad while decked in black and gazing downwards at his instrument.<\/p>\n

Jason\u2019s most animated moment came when James howled the lyric \u201cNow I will just say goodbye!\u201d At that exact second, the bassist gazed up at a camera crane and waved: a literal farewell from a man already mourning the death of his dream.<\/p>\n

The plan was, after the performance, for Metallica to meet behind closed doors and finally attempt to revive their flagging momentum. However, Jason no-showed.<\/p>\n

I wasn’t gonna screw up anybody’s Christmas<\/p>\n

Jason Newsted<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had told him that we needed to talk after the show,\u201d said Kirk in 2003, \u201cbut Jason wasn\u2019t around.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bassist later reasoned on saving the discussion until January: \u201cI wasn\u2019t gonna screw up anybody\u2019s Christmas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Jason Newsted\u2019s chapter as a performer in Metallica ended on that wintry November night, the story mercifully has a happy ending. The band hardily weathered the following struggles, emerging with new bassist Robert Trujillo<\/a> and a number-one (if controversial) album in St Anger<\/a>. As for their ex-bassist, he now lifts his former colleagues up onto a pedestal at every opportunity and holds zero regrets.<\/p>\n

\u201c[I\u2019m] better friends with the Metallica guys now than I probably ever was,\u201d he told The Guardian in 2021. \u201cObviously [leaving Metallica] was the right thing to do, because they\u2019re still fucking crushing and I\u2019m here smiling at you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"January 17, 2001, was the Ides Of March for Metallica. On that day, bassist Jason Newsted marched into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278],"class_list":{"0":"post-248311","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}