Gibson TV has released a trailer for Dave Mustaine of the series Icons , which is scheduled to premiere tomorrow, Thursday, August 19th. In the clip, Mustaine reminisces about his bus trip from New York to California after being fired by Metallica in 1983.
“The trip back home from New York was long. I knew it would be long. The trip was dangerous,” he said. He is referring to the incident when Metallica nearly died in Wyoming during a cross-country trip on their way to meet Jonny Zazula [founder of Megaforce Records] in New Jersey.
“The trip was bad. Because of the accident in Wyoming, I think that’s what made me the guy who needed to go. I don’t know. I was probably destined to leave before that because of, you know, the word ‘destiny’ and the fact that there was so much talent and so much personality among the four of us. I don’t know if we could have survived. It was destined to have some kind of explosion at some point,” he stated.
“I searched quite a bit for ‘my soul’ on the way home,” he continued. “Did I want to play guitar? Did I want to keep doing that? What am I going to do? And then I understood. I’m going to start a band that’s more metal than Metallica.”
In a 2009 interview with Lydverket , Dave Mustaine said he was "so hurt" about being kicked out of Metallica for allegedly drinking too much. "I said, 'What?! No second chance, no warning? We all drink,'" he recalled. "And [they were] like, 'No, that's it. You're done.' And I said, 'Okay.'"
Furthermore, Mustaine also stated that an altercation with Metallica's frontman, James Hetfield , led to his dismissal from the band.
“I was selling marijuana,” Dave said. “When I was going to play a show, people knew my marijuana was in my apartment. […] They broke into my house. People stole everything I had, all my product. And I thought, screw it. I’ll get some dogs to stay in the apartment when I leave,” he continued.
“So, I got two dogs and took one of them to a rehearsal once, and she put her paws on Ron’s [ McGovney , then Metallica bassist] car. And James kicked her right to the side. And I said, ‘What did you do? It’s a dog, that’s what they do. You don’t kick animals.’ Then we went inside the house and started arguing a bit more. And I ended up punching him in the face, and I think that’s why I lost my job,” he explained.
In 2016, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett told the Word Of Wheeler that he understood Dave Mustaine's ongoing resentment toward his former bandmates. "I always saw Dave as someone who was very, very sad, very angry, very frustrated with his situation with Metallica, and he could never let that go," he stated.
“And, you know, I always showed a lot of empathy for him, understanding that he was just upset. It’s the equivalent of the woman of your life leaving you. I mean, seriously. When your band kicks you out… I’ve never been kicked out, but I can imagine it’s a horrible experience, especially if it’s a band you’re very passionate about,” he said.
Kirk Hammett also emphasizes how great it was to have Dave on stage at the 30th anniversary shows to play songs from Kill 'Em All . According to the guitarist, even with James on stage, it was a natural and relaxed situation. He believes this helped Dave with how he felt about the whole situation.
Following this comment, Dave Mustaine went to Twitter and replied: “I have enormous respect for @KirkHammett and appreciate his opinion on this. He’s almost 100% accurate… almost. I wish him all the best.”
In a September 2011 interview with Artisan News , Mustaine seemed to agree that his reunion on stage with Metallica went a long way toward healing the wounds of how his time in the band ended.
Previously, in 2004, Mustaine famously said: “I really don’t care about Kirk. He stole my job, but at least I got to sleep with his girlfriend before he took my job. What’s my taste, Kirk?”
Mustaine did not play on any Metallica albums and did not attend their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. This, according to Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich , is why he was not included: “Dave Mustaine never played on any Metallica record. No disrespect to him. But there were half a dozen other people who were in the lineup in the early days. We thought the fair thing to do would be to include anyone who played on a Metallica album.”