Watch: Dave Mustaine Opens Up To Lars Ulrich About The Pain He Experienced Over Being Fired From Metallica

Dave Mustaine
Dave Mustaine: Ralph Arvesen (Wikimedia Commons)/ Lars Ulrich: Kreepin Deth (Wikimedia Commons)
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Dave Mustaine, frontman of Megadeth, was part of the first ever Metallica lineup. Metallica formed in 1981, but Mustaine would end up being fired from the band in 1983 due to his problems with drinking. This time in Mustaine’s life led to a lot of pain – pain he spoke to the Metallica drummer about.

On a recent episode of the Metallica themed podcast, …And Podcast For All, “performance coach” and former psychotherapist Phil Towle was interviewed. At one point, Towle was asked about a particular scene during the Metallica documentary, Some Kind Of Monster; the scene Towle was asked about involved that of ex-Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine confronting Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich about the former being kicked out of the band.

In talking about that scene involving Dave Mustaine and Lars Ulrich (you can view that scene below), Towle speaks to the importance of Mustaine and Ulrich’s conversation. As transcribed by Blabbermouth:

“The Mustaine session itself was pivotal for Lars and Dave, but it wasn’t complete for Dave. I mean, obviously. It was the first chance that Mustaine had had to be able to purge. And I think Lars did a great job of opening up and doing his best to take it on without trying to change Dave’s mind. He couldn’t really answer the soulful part of Dave’s pain; he couldn’t heal that pain. Dave has to heal that pain in response to what was going on. But the conversation was an opener; it was a great opener for them to be able to… It was a way for each of them to communicate what was in their heart and on their minds. And like so many parts of life, it had its own standalone features, but it wasn’t standalone. It was an opportunity for both of them to reconnect in healthy way. Look what happened — they brought Mustaine back when they were inducted into the [Rock And Roll] Hall Of Fame, right?” he said, apparently referring to Metallica’s reunion with Mustaine at the 30th-anniversary concerts in San Francisco in 2011. ‘So, that led to that; I’m sure that was part of it.”

What are your thoughts on Dave Mustaine being fired from Metallica? You can watch that conversation between Dave Mustaine and Lars Ulrich below:

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Words by: Michael Pementel