The Megadeth founder, guitarist and singer Dave Mustaine was a member of Metallica from 1981 until 1983 when he was fired from the band, before they recorded their debut album. Even though he was replaced by Kirk Hammett, the group used many of his guitar riffs on their first two albums and he received credits for those compositions.
Over the decades, his relationship with the members of Metallica, especially the founders Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield had many ups and downs. In an interview with Guitar World he talked about his importance to the group and said that his influence on Metallica is really deep.
Dave Mustaine says he is a deep influence to Metallica
“They became one of the biggest bands in the world. Here’s one of the biggest bands in the world wasting their breath trying to discredit me by saying, ‘Dave’s not a good guitar player'”.
“Excuse me, what the fuck did you say? I think I wrote many of the songs that made you famous, so you probably should recheck that bullshit statement. Also, early on, James was terrified to talk to the crowd… So I – the guy who can’t play guitar – went up to the mic and started talking. That’s how it was until I left. James only started talking to the audience after I left; he had no choice.
“And most of what I said onstage was things James would then copy after I left. So how do I view my influence on Metallica? It’s pretty fucking deep,” Dave Mustaine said.
In 2022, Mustaine said that he was talking with James Hetfield about doing a project with him but that things are unlikely to happen when they didn’t agree on the publishing discrepancy in some old Metallica tracks and they haven’t talked to each other since.
Megadeth was formed in 1983 by Dave Mustaine after he was fired from Metallica. The band released in 2022 their sixteenth studio album called “The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!” Besides Mustaine, the band is currently formed by Kiko Loureiro (Guitar), Dirk Verbeuren (Drums) and James LoMenzo (Bass).