| Jason Newsted | |
|---|---|
Jason Newsted |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jason Curtis Newsted |
| Also known as | Jasonic |
| Born | March 3, 1963 Battle Creek, Michigan |
| Genres | Heavy metal, thrash metal, speed metal, progressive metal, hard rock, stoner rock |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Bass, vocals, guitar, double bass, violin, drums, theremin |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Metal Blade, Elektra, Chophouse, The End, Surfdog |
| Associated acts | Metallica, Flotsam and Jetsam, Papa Wheelie, Voivod, Echobrain, Rock Star Supernova, Ozzy Osbourne, Spastik Children, WhoCares |
| Website | www.chophouserecords.com (defunct) |
| Notable instruments | |
| Sadowsky Vintage Custom Bass Alembic Basses Rickenbacker 4003 |
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Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 3, 1963 in Battle Creek, Michigan) is an American bassist known for his work with Metallica, Voivod and Flotsam and Jetsam. Joining Metallica in 1986 after Cliff Burton's death, Newsted remained a member until 2001, making him the band's longest-serving bassist. After he left Metallica, he continued with his project Echobrain, played with Ozzy Osbourne and joined heavy metal band Voivod. Newsted uses the pseudonym Jasonic, which serves as both his alias in Voivod and the name of his music publishing company. He is also the founder of the Chophouse Records studio and label based in California.
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The early part of Newsted's music career had him performing bass for Flotsam and Jetsam and their 1986 album Doomsday for the Deceiver. Newsted wrote the majority of lyrics for the album as well.
Following the death of Metallica's bassist Cliff Burton in September 1986 on the Europe leg of the Damage Inc. Tour, the group began a search for a new bassist. Newsted auditioned along with roughly 39 other musicians and in winning the role, his first live performance with Metallica was at the Country Club in Reseda, California. He was often subjected to pranks and ridicule which increased as time went on.
His debut with Metallica was on its extended play The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited in 1987. This was followed by his first studio album with the band, ...And Justice for All (1988), which was subject to controversy and criticism for its poor production, among other issues, for its murky bass sound. Newsted claims this was further hazing 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.[1] In addition, they claim that most/all of Newsted's bass lines closely followed the rhythm guitar lines to the point of being indiscernible from each other.[2] Nonetheless, the album peaked at number 6 on the Billboard 200 and projected the band to higher success.
Newsted performed on ...And Justice for All (1988), the self-titled Metallica (1991), which is the best-selling Metallica album to date and made the group a world-known band, Load (1996) and ReLoad (1997). The live concerts Live Shit: Binge & Purge and Cunning Stunts were produced in 1993 and 1997 respectively, and S&M in 1999. Newsted also played bass on the song "I Disappear" in 2000.
During his time in Metallica, Newsted played the bass guitar and also sang backing vocals on a number of Metallica songs. During the tours after 1991, he would often sing parts of "Creeping Death", "Whiplash" and "Seek and Destroy", and he performed lead in most songs for three shows at the Summer Sanitarium Tour where Hetfield was recovering from injury.[3][4]
He is known for his bass solo which included parts of "My Friend of Misery" (which Newsted had originally written as an instrumental)[5] and bass parts from his former band, Flotsam and Jetsam.
He has co-written three Metallica songs:
During a meeting between the members of Metallica in January 2001, Newsted, who was unhappy with the direction Metallica was taking, proposed that the band should take a year-long hiatus, and he would use that time to focus on his side-project Echobrain. By 2001 James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich at this point were married and had children. As Newsted had no interest in being married or having children, he felt focused on music, even if it meant through side-projects. When the other band members objected to Newsted's proposals, he decided to quit the band.[6] And on January 17, as plans were being made for the band to enter the recording studio to record its eighth studio album St. Anger, Newsted announced his departure. Newsted's statement revealed his departure was based on "private and personal reasons and the physical damage I have done to myself over the years while playing the music that I love."[7] During a Playboy interview with Metallica, Newsted revealed that he wanted to release an album with Echobrain. Hetfield was against the idea and said, "When someone does a side project, it takes away from the strength of Metallica."[8] Newsted countered his statement by citing Hetfield's contributions to other musical outlets. Hetfield replied, "My name isn't on those records. And I'm not out trying to sell them" and pondered questions such as "Where would it end? Does he start touring with it? Does he sell shirts? Is it his band?".[8] Newsted's departure from Metallica, along with Hetfield's decision to go to rehab a few months later, nearly led to a breakup of the band. After Hetfield rejoined Metallica, the band finished recording St. Anger, with record producer Bob Rock filling in the bass slot. Robert Trujillo became the band's new bassist in 2003.
Newsted has stated that he has never regretted leaving the band. "I tell you very honestly, one billion percent, I have never regretted leaving Metallica. It was the right thing for everyone. It was the right thing to do for the camp, that’s it. I’ve never told anyone that I wanted to go back or anything like that, not once. I made up my mind. It was not an easy thing to do, but it was something I had to do. I thought about it very much before I pulled the trigger and because of that, I have never looked back. The past is where it's supposed to be."[9] It was stated in the film Some Kind of Monster that there was a rumor for Newsted to possibly rejoin the band, but it was proven false.
Despite his departure from Metallica, Newsted remains close with the other band members.[10] On April 4, 2009, Newsted joined Metallica for its induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.[11][12] He also performed three songs at the event, "Master Of Puppets","Enter Sandman", and "Train Kept A-Rollin'" with Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett, and Robert Trujillo, and Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Joe Perry, Ron Wood, and Flea. On December 5, 7, 9, and 10 2011, Newsted reunited with Metallica during all four of their 30th anniversary shows and performed several songs with the band, Trujillo and, in some cases, other guest musicians. [13]
Newsted joined Canadian thrash metal band Voivod in 2002. Coincidentally, he was also Trujillo's replacement in Osbourne's band (having switched sides) during Ozzfest 2003, which included Voivod as a Second Stage act. During an MTV interview, both Osbourne and Newsted showed extreme enthusiasm in writing a new album together, with Osbourne comparing Newsted to "a young Geezer Butler." However, this would not come to fruition as Newsted left Osbourne upon finishing tour duties in late 2003.[14][15] He would soon be replaced by Rob Zombie bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson.[16]
Newsted then focused solely on Voivod where, much like Echobrain, the group was funded entirely through him. They recorded two albums before Newsted's participation in Rock Star Supernova, a supergroup created through the reality television series, Rock Star: Supernova, in 2006.
The last incarnation of Voivod featured three of the four founding members: Denis Bélanger (aka Snake, vocals), Denis D'Amour (aka Piggy, guitars), and Michel Langevin (aka Away, drums), with Jason Newsted (aka Jasonic) on bass guitar. Guitarist D'Amour died at the age of 45 on August 26, 2005 due to complications from colon cancer.[17] The record Katorz (a phonetic spelling of quatorze, the French word for fourteen), released in July 2006, was based around riffs found on D'Amour's laptop. A December 2008 update on Voivod's website noted that Newsted played "all the bass tracks" on their latest album Infini, which was released on June 23, 2009.[18][19]
Supernova formed the basis of the second season of the Rock Star television program on CBS in the quest to find a lead singer. The show began online on the Rock Star web site on MSN on Monday, July 3, 2006 with an Internet exclusive weekly episode and premiered on CBS on that Wednesday, July 5. Votes were cast via the Rock Star website. On September 13, 2006, Lukas Rossi was crowned the winner.
On October 23, 2006, Newsted was injured while attempting to catch a falling bass amp head. The accident resulted in a torn anterior labrum in his left shoulder and a rotator cuff and biceps tear in the right. He was scheduled for immediate surgery, and underwent a lengthy rehab process. During this time he was unable to play, and began to express himself through painting.[20] On January 4, 2007, he was back playing his bass again.
While recovering from his shoulder injury, Newsted found solace through painting. Newsted has turned out a number of large original works of art over the last half a decade.[21] Jason Newsted says that he went "from making crazy and colorful music to making crazy and colorful paintings."[22] His first gallery show opened on May 4, 2010 at Micaëla Gallery in San Francisco.[23]
On April 4, 2009, Newsted was present with Metallica and played with the band alongside current bassist Robert Trujillo at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland.[24] It was his first performance with the band in nearly 9 years, their last performance together having taken place at the 2000 VH1 Music Awards. Both Newsted and Trujillo performed onstage at the same time, which was a first for the band.
In October 2010 it was announced that Newsted would be joining a supergroup with singer Ian Gillan and former keyboardist Jon Lord from Deep Purple, guitarist Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath, second guitarist Mikko Lindström from HIM and drummer Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden. The band was called WhoCares and plans to record a new charity single entitled "Out of My Mind".[25]
The charity single also features another new track entitled "Holy Water". The single is available as digital download or in CD format, and it was released on 6 May 2011.[26]
On Jan. 1, 2012, the Kalamazoo Gazette (online at MLive.com) published an in-depth story about Newsted's long-term friendship with Gary Kyes, a high school pal who was seriously injured in an automobile accident in 1992.
In 2004, Newsted signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a non-profit organization that provides free musical instruments and instruction to children in underserved public schools throughout the U.S.A. Newsted sits on LKR's Honorary Board of Directors.
| Preceded by Cliff Burton |
Metallica bassist 1986-2001 |
Succeeded by Robert Trujillo |
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