Dave Mustaine, known for his role as the former guitarist of Metallica and founder of Megadeth, made explosive claims about his time with Metallica in a candid conversation on the Shawn Ryan Show. He opened up about how he joined the legendary band, his musical contributions, and the circumstances surrounding his departure.
In the interview, Mustaine recounted how he first came across Metallica through a classified ad.
“So I got a newspaper called The Recycler, and it’s just a rag from Los Angeles, Orange County. It’s like a county classified ad magazine. Go figure. The biggest band in the world would advertise in this newspaper. So I look at it and it says, ‘Wanted lead guitar player’ and mentioned a couple bands,” Mustaine recalled.
That ad led to his first interaction with drummer Lars Ulrich.
“So I called up and I got Lars on the phone, and I said, ‘Yeah, well, I like Motörhead and I like Budgie.’ And he goes, ‘You like f*cking Budgie, man?’ And I went, ‘Yeah, I do.’ And that was the icebreaker because Budgie is a Welsh band. And by me listening to them showed that I had credibility in the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal world because of the bands I was listening to.”
In a striking revelation, Mustaine discussed a track often credited as a cornerstone of Metallica’s early sound.
“I went into his place and started talking to him. And he played this song called ‘Hit The Lights’ that was written by a guy named Lloyd Grant. Metallica didn’t write that song. Lloyd Grant wrote it, and then he was friends with Lars, and then Lars introduced him to James and then they started playing ‘Hit The Lights’.”
The conversation also turned to the reason behind Mustaine’s exit from the band.
“James and Lars had made a decision to replace me because they tried to pin that driving thing on me as the last straw.”
But what stings the most for Mustaine is how his creative work was used post-departure.
“So it pissed me off and was a huge part of the fuel. At the time I was really mad and I didn’t want to forgive them for what they did. And I told them when I left, do not use my music. And of course, they used it. I wrote a lot of their music that made them. And all the solos on that first record were mine. The best Kirk could try and copy them.”
