In an interview with the Florida Daily Post Metallica bassist Jason Newsted , including the addiction that nearly killed him and his inability to play Metallica's music.
“The type of music I play now with the Chophouse Band is what I can play. Sometimes it gets tense and difficult, but I know I can play this forever. This type of music and the sounds of Johnny Cash , I can play sitting down, lying down, dancing, anywhere.”
“I’m sure I can’t play the way I’d like to play in Voivod , Metallica, or any of those bands anymore. I don’t have the physical condition that’s required anymore. I only do six shows a year, but I do them well.”
Newsted spoke about the three surgeries he had on both shoulders between 2004 and 2008:
“The surgeries kind of fixed me, but only partially. I kept playing music as best I could, but I never quite got back to what I was completely. I’m at about 90%. I can’t play Metallica stuff anymore – I couldn’t do a show like that anymore.”
Due to the pain, Jason started taking Vicodin, a well-known painkiller. The doses were increased to the point that he became completely addicted to the drug after consuming it consistently for 6 years.
“The scariest part was when I tried to stop. Actually, I stopped completely from one moment to the next. I threw everything down the toilet and flushed. And then I understood what happens if you've been using for 6 years and stop suddenly: You're going to die. I was going to die. I didn't know it was worse to stop. Then I went to a hospital unconscious, they revived me, and then calmly I enrolled in a program to gradually reduce the doses so my body could adjust, and I managed to get rid of it in 2010.”
Jason Newsted admits that he often asked himself the famous question "what if..." . What if I had stayed in Metallica? In this analysis, he recounts that only his family and closest friends understood and supported his decision to leave the band, since they saw what was happening backstage.
“The rest of the world, literally millions and millions of people, didn’t understand and, without knowing me or anything about what was going on, asked, ‘How could you leave the greatest band of all time?’”
Check out the full interview (in English) with Jason Newsted:
READ ALSO : Jason Newsted performs with his band and plays “Rockin' In The Free World”; watch here