“Metallica can play 60 more Lulus. They’ve earned the place to do whatever they want”: how Jason Newsted escaped the shadow of metal’s biggest band to forge his own career

Jason Newsted and his band in front of a graffiti covered wall.

When Jason Newsted was plucked from the ranks of Phoenix thrashers Flotsam And Jetsam to replace the late Cliff Burton in Metallica in 1986, it was the start of incredible, sometimes tumultuous journey for the bassist. In 2013, more than a decade after he quit Metallica, he sat down with Metal Hammer to talk about his new group Newsted and his time in the world’s biggest metal band.

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