Jason Newsted

Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the bassist of heavy metal band Metallica from 1986 to 2001.

He first performed with thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam from 1981 to 1986 before joining Metallica to succeed the deceased Cliff Burton.

Following the breakup of Newsted’s band ‘Gangster’ amidst their move to California in 1982; Newsted wound up living in Phoenix, Arizona temporarily before he joined thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam.

Newsted wrote the majority of lyrics for their 1986 album Doomsday for the Deceiver.

On September 27, 1986, during the European leg of the Damage, Inc. Tour, Metallica's bassist Cliff Burton died in a tour bus crash.

Following Burton's death, the group began a search for a new bassist.

They considered and auditioned over 50 musicians, including Greg Christian of Testament, Gene Gilfen of Blind Illusion, Mel Sanchez of Abattoir, Mike Jastremski of Heathen, Troy Gregory, Les Claypool and various others.

Newsted was the last in line and ended up winning the part.

Newsted's first live performance with Metallica was at the Country Club in Reseda, California, November 8, 1986.

His studio debut with Metallica was on The $5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited in 1987 in which he was credited as ‘Master J Newkid’ in the liner notes.

Newsted performed on the albums ...And Justice for All (1988), Metallica (1991), Load (1996), and Reload (1997).

After leaving Metallica, Newsted was a member of metal bands Echobrain and Voivod, using the pseudonym Jasonic for the latter, and toured with Ozzy Osbourne.

This was followed by his first studio album with the band, ...And Justice for All (1988), which was criticized for its undermixed bass guitar and thin tone.

Newsted claims this was deliberate on the part of Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield, although both Ulrich and Hetfield claim they were also disappointed with the production of the album.

They claim that most or all of Newsted's bass lines closely followed the rhythm guitar lines to the point of being indiscernible from each other.

However, Steve Thompson, who mixed the album, claims that Ulrich was to blame for the inaudible bass and unusual drums.

Thompson wanted to be relieved of his mixing duties when Ulrich presented his ideas on the production, but Thompson was not allowed to leave and received the majority of the criticism for the poor sound quality of the record.

Nonetheless, the album peaked at number 6 on the Billboard 200 and projected the band to higher success.

During tours, beginning in 1989, he would often sing parts of "Creeping Death", "Whiplash" and "Seek & Destroy", and he performed lead in most songs for three shows at the Summer Sanitarium Tour where Hetfield was recovering from injury.

Newsted also performed on the self-titled album Metallica (1991), which is the best-selling Metallica album to date, as well as on Load (1996), ReLoad (1997), and Garage Inc (1998). The live concert releases Live Shit: Binge & Purge and Cunning Stunts, produced in 1993 and 1997 respectively, also featured Newsted, as did the live album S&M in 1999.

Newsted also played bass on the song "I Disappear" in 2000, his last studio appearance.

During his time in Metallica, Newsted also sang backing vocals or occasional lead vocals on a number of Metallica songs.

Newsted was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Metallica in 2009.

Jason Curtis Newsted was born in Battle Creek, Michigan.

He has two older brothers and a younger sister.

He grew up on a farm and at the age of six was given the responsibility of looking after animals.

He was tasked with looking after hundreds of chickens and rabbits.

He told author Paul Stenning, "It's where I learned about life – seeing a baby cow born right in front of your eyes when you're eight years old is pretty intense…I was from a very strong family and I was raised to be a strong, pure Americana farm boy."

Newsted's mother taught piano and one of his brothers plays trumpet.

He was exposed to music as a child, listening to the record collections of his older brothers.

His first instrument was a guitar, which he started to play at 9 years old, but he moved to bass at 14, after listening to Gene Simmons of Kiss.

Newsted dropped out of high school at age 18 and joined ‘Gangster’ a local metal band before the group decided to relocate to California.

Newsted cites Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath as his major influence.

He lists Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, Peter Baltes of Accept, Geddy Lee of Rush, Rob Grange of Ted Nugent, and Bill Church of Montrose as other significant influences.

Since 2012, he fronts heavy metal band Newsted.

Newsted said in a 2015 interview that he learned about Metallica's plan to open for Ozzy Osbourne's tour at the time.

To his advantage, Newsted strategically procured the band's setlist, studied it, and presented it to drummer Lars Ulrich saying he knew all these songs, much to Ulrich's surprise.

Two days later, Metallica invited Newsted back and told to him that he had been chosen to fill the bassist position.

The band involved both of Burton's parents in the decision to choose Newsted.

After the band broke the news to Newsted, Burton's mother hugged him tightly and said, "You are the one. Please, be safe."