Bassist Jason Newsted had some big shoes to fill when he was hired by Metallica to replace the late, great Cliff Burton. Unfortunately for Newsted, he had a bit of rocky ride in Metallica with how he was treated by the band, how his bass was non-existent on the “… And Justice For All” album, and with how he departed from the band’s ranks. But Burton’s mother Jan definitely had his back during his Metallica audition. Recently, Newsted revealed what happened when he met with Jan Burton during the audition process.
She embraced me and it seemed like it was quite a while, and she said, ‘You’re the one, you must be the one. Please be safe, we love you’ and she gave me a kiss. That was 35 years ago and I’ll never, ever forget it.
“That evening, it was the third day that I played with the boys,” Newsted told Metal Hammer. “I think I stayed overnight in San Francisco for the first time, and you gotta remember that I had lived in a tin shed with no toilet and no bathroom in Arizona and now I’m staying at the Miyako Hotel. That third night, they had the ‘elders’ come in for their blessing. So, Torben Ulrich, The Burtons, a couple of the crew guys, people that had been there from the get-go, I’m not sure if there was a couple of the other families there. We got through about six tunes: Master…, Fade To Black, …Bell Tolls, the masterpieces! So I am just composing myself for a second, putting my bass down, turning off Cliff’s amp – I’m playing f*cking Cliff’s amp, dude! Jan [Burton] comes walking in the room by herself, and she grabs me and gets my attention. She says, ‘Great job, son’, and I’m like ‘Oh, f*ck!’ She embraced me and it seemed like it was quite a while, and she said, ‘You’re the one, you must be the one. Please be safe, we love you’ and she gave me a kiss. That was 35 years ago and I’ll never, ever forget it.”
Newsted also shared what it was like stepping onstage as a member of Metallica for the first time. “I was nervously excited, anxious mostly. I did not have any lack of confidence in myself – I knew that I knew the songs, and I knew that I had the energy, which was required a lot back in those days to play in Metallica. It was very physical and very athletic, and I had that. But one thing I do remember – I’m not sure if I’ve ever told this story – I used to have these two pinky rings, custom-made skull things. One had a diamond in the eye and one had a ruby in the eye. I only kept one on, because you can’t play [with two] – I even have to wear my wedding ring around my neck because I can’t be smacking my strings with it. So, we’re on the way down and I couldn’t get the ring off. My girlfriend at the time was going down with me and she’s trying, and I’ve got one of our stage-hand guys who is showing me to the stage and he’s helping, but we can’t get that f*cking ring off! I’m ripping, dude, because I’m all jacked up and I’ve been playing so much that my hands are swollen and the ring is just f*cking with me! I gotta get this off, dude!” I finally just rip it off and all this flesh comes with it – crunch. So that first time going on stage with Metallica, [I was] nervous enough already, but that ring added a little something else.”
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