Kirk Hammett says he can understand former Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine’s long-held anger at being fired from the band.
Mustaine was Metallica’s lead guitarist until he was fired in 1983 and replaced by Hammett. He went on to form Megadeth but has been critical of his former bandmates in the years since.
Hammett says he has empathy for Mustaine’s situation and adds that he believes some of the wounds were healed when Mustaine joined Metallica onstage at the Fillmore in San Francisco in 2011 to celebrate the band’s 30th anniversary.
Hammett tells Word Of Wheeler (via Blabbermouth): “I’ve always shown a lot of empathy for him, understanding that he was just pissed off. It’s the equivalent of the woman of your life leaving you, when your band kicks you out. I’ve never been kicked out, but I can imagine it’s a horrible experience, especially if it’s a band that you feel really passionately about.
“So I can understand Dave’s plight over all these years. But I will also say that when we did these 30th-anniversary shows at the Fillmore and we invited Dave to play on all those Kill ‘Em All songs, man, it felt so good to have him playing on stage.”
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He continues: “And I could see from the look on Dave’s face and just from his whole attitude that it was super-cathartic for him. And it’s interesting, because since then, I think Dave’s relationship with us is a little bit better now. I’d like to think that that whole thing just kind of healed some scars that needed to be healed.”
Metallica recently released their 10th album Hardwired… To Self-Destruct and have announced a number of tour dates, with more to follow.
Metallica tour dates 2016-17 so far
Dec 17: Oakland Fox Theater, CA
Jan 11: Seoul Gocheok Sky Dome, South Korea
Jan 18: Beijing Le Sports Centre, China
Jan 20: Hong Kong AsiaWorld-Expo, China
Jan 22: Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore
Feb 03: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Feb 05: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Feb 07: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Feb 09: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark
Mar 01: Mexico City Foro Sol, Mexico
Mar 03: Mexico City Foro Sol, Mexico
Mar 25: Sao Paulo Interlagos Racetrack, Brazil
Mar 31-Apr 01: Buenos Aires Hippodrome San Isidro, Argentina
Apr 01-02: Santiago Parque O’Higgins, Chile
May 19-21: Rock On The Range festival, OH
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