Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963 in Battle Creek, Michigan) is an American bass guitarist currently a member of Voivod, but is best known as a former member of the metal band Metallica. He currently resides in Walnut Creek, California.
Jason Newsted left his previous band, Flotsam and Jetsam to join Metallica in 1986 after the tragic death of popular bassist Cliff Burton. According to Metallica vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield, auditions for Cliff's replacement were held the day following his funeral, as their popularity was at an all time high having just released Master of Puppets.
During an evening of drinking, the three members of Metallica: Hetfield, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, and drummer Lars Ulrich asked Jason to join Metallica. Reportedly it was Ulrich who asked Newsted, "Want a job?"
After confirming Jason Newsted as their new bassist, Metallica constructed a cheap studio in Ulrich's garage in order to acclimate Jason to Metallica. In this studio, the band quickly recorded an album consisting completely of cover songs called The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited, an homage to the so-called New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Jason was often referred to by the nickname "Jason Newkid." (Ironically, he was the second oldest member of Metallica after Kirk Hammett.)
Shortly afterward, the band recorded ...And Justice for All, Jason's official debut with Metallica. While the album contains classic Metallica songs such as "One" and "Harvester of Sorrow", the production quality is generally regarded as sub-par compared to their previous albums. In particular the bass guitar is all but non-existent, buried under layer upon layer of Hetfield's rhythm guitar tracks. It can be felt but hardly heard, although this can also be partially attributed to Jason's doubling of Hetfield's rhythm guitar parts.
Jason withstood an ongoing series of practical jokes during the mammoth two-year tour supporting Justice.... He felt that the hazing never stopped. Many fans who have come to his defense have cited this behavior among the evidence that he was never fully accepted as an equal member of the band.
He left Metallica in January 2001 citing "... the physical damage I've done to myself playing the music I love". He joined the Canadian metal band Voivod in 2002.
In the film Some Kind of Monster, Newsted claimed that he left Metallica because of James Hetfield's controlling desire to keep everyone in Metallica and out of side projects (like Jason's Echobrain and IR8 projects). Jason also admitted that after 13 years, he still felt that his bandmates had not accepted him as an equal to his predecessor, Cliff Burton. He also described the band as "weak and lame" for hiring a psychologist.
In 2003 Metallica picked former Ozzy Osbourne and Suicidal Tendencies bassist Robert Trujillo as Newsted's replacement. Jason was very happy with the decision Metallica made and in a bizarre twist, Ozzy immediately chose Jason to replace Rob for Ozzfest 2003. Following the end of Ozzfest Jason left Ozzy's band to concentrate on his work with Voivod. Even though he isn't 100% happy with his relationship with Metallica, they are on pretty good terms. He has actually been quoted, "I'll be right there cheering them on.(referring to St.Anger tour or any other concert)" on MTV Icon.
The last song Jason played with Metallica was "Fade to Black", and he knew at the time that it was going to be the last song he would play with the band. Reportedly, the song is of great sentimental value to him, even though it was written before he joined Metallica.
In most recent news, Jason Newsted has joined Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke to form Supernova, a band to take place in the reality television show Rock Star, in which they will search for a singer. SUPERNOVA's first album is to be released just before the new band hits the road in 2007.
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