Newsted Reflects On His Impact On Metallica

Bruce Henne | 10-18-2019

Former Metallica bass player Jason Newsted recently reflected on how he views the impact he had on the band and he helped them "scale new heights" in the wake of the tragic death of Cliff Burton.

Newsted, who had been a member of Flotsam and Jetsam, joined the band following Burton's death in a tour bus accident during the Master Of Puppets tour in 1986 and he remained a member of the group until 2001.

Jason recently sat down with WZZR radio in Florida and had the following to say about his impact on the band,
"The stabilization of the band I would like to take some credit for. Yes, it was hard work; yes, it's not for everyone; but, holy crap, what we were able to accomplish. Because we had the right combination of people at the right time and the right amount of people to go play for in the world. It was all demographics and politics and all those things that got us to where we were.

"The hard work that went into that and the foundation and stability that it created after such a fracturing because of Cliff's passing, they would have just as soon not done anything else once that happened. But they didn't, and they kept going, and I had to come in and be that propulsion, be the new engine that helped this fractured being. 'Cause it's a thing that's bigger than all of [us]. It's an entity unto itself.

"So those years that I did it was just stabilizing the whole thing. Fifteen years later, it was stabilization. So that's what I was able to be. I showed up - first one in, last one out. I always went with that kind of mentality. That's why it got to where it got. That's how heavy metal of that sharp tooth was able to get on the radio.

"We spearheaded that thing. There was bands before us. If there wasn't AC/DC and there wasn't Iron Maiden, we would not have been able to tour the way we did; we would not have been able to accomplish what we did in these nooks and crannies of the universe. But the thing is that those guys kept flying the flag. They're 36 years in and they can still sell any stadium in any country ." Check out the full interview here.