Live shows, headbanging can always lead to issues when done continuously for years.
Former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted is one such living example.
He discussed about his health in a recent interview with the Palm Beach Florida Weekly.
He said:
“I haven’t had a direct interaction with anybody other than doctors about that kind of stuff. It’s mostly my family and wife and people who have known me for a long, long time.
He further revealed:
“About 1992 in New York, I was in a real bad way.”
“It was about eight or 10 months into a tour, with very little rest. I had herniated these C discs. It was just an occupational hazard. It came with the territory. The reason I said anything about it is because it happened to me. Over time, what happened was they told me I was giving myself whiplash every night. You’re doing it thousands of times a day — how many in a week, in a month? Literally millions of times. It’s flesh and bone, and it breaks down. Now I’ve let myself heal, and I haven’t done it in 19 years.
Looking at his current state, Jason said:
“When I play in CHOPHOUSE BAND, “I play guitar — lighter instruments and acoustic instruments. It’s not this maple five-string bass that weighs 20 pounds. All that ergonomics is nutty.”
He concluded:
“In Metallica, I stayed the exact same weight for 27 years.”
“We always knew that was going to happen. You can weigh yourself before the show, and it was at least a three-pound difference, sometimes more. We’d rate the power and energy of the show by how many T-shirts we went through. You could wring ’em out and fill up a bottle. Four was a pretty good show. Everybody had their way of keeping fit. I took my bicycle on tour with me for years.”