The possibility of Dave Mustaine's return to Metallica vanished suddenly.
Metallica lost its original singer when the band fired Mustaine in 1983. But fans were hopeful of a reunion after the former frontman revealed he started a conversation with former Metallica bandmate, James Hetfield.
According to Mustaine, the discussion was "friendly," but the talks ended unexpectedly one day. In an interview with Guitar World, the singer opened up, saying:
"we were talking about getting back together and doing a project. Something had come up about the publishing discrepancy that we have been arguing about for years and years and years, and I told James, 'I'll do it but we've got to get this stuff sorted out first' - and he said, 'Oh yeah, sure,'" he said.
From there, things went wrong between them.
Mustaine also shared his story on Twitter, recalling the time they planned to release the "No Life 'til leather" demo as a record. At that time, Lars Ulrich wanted credit on two songs, although he wrote every word of them.
Instead on that project, some songs made it to the "Kill 'Em All" instead.
Dave Mustaine's History With Metallica
In Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian's memoir, "I'm the Man: The Story of That Guy From Anthrax," he revealed that Mustaine's drinking habit led to his dismissal. Although he was not the only one abusing alcohol, the former frontman tended to be mean whenever he got drunk.
"Late at night he would dump piles of trash in front of other bands' rehearsal room doors, so when they'd show up the next day their whole front door would be covered with a mountain of garbage. And they'd know which band did it because Metallica were the only ones sleeping there," he recalled.
Meanwhile, Mustaine said that the physical altercation between him and James Hetfield ended his journey with the band.
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In the same year, Metallica called Exodus guitarist Kirk Hammett and asked him if he was interested to do an audition. Mustaine himself knew about it.
In 2019, he told Norway's Lydverket that he felt so hurt when he got kicked out of Metallica for drinking too much.
Hetfield, on the other hand, told Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas radio station 97.1, The Eagle Rocks, that it was odd to hear the former bandmate talk about his exit, since decades have already passed since it occurred.
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