Dave Mustaine Claims He Wrote All The Music That Made Metallica Famous

Before Dave Mustaine became the iconic frontman of Megadeth, he had a short but unforgettable chapter with Metallica. In a revealing three-hour interview on the Shawn Ryan Show, Mustaine looked back at those chaotic early days with honesty, grit, and just the right touch of humor. From auditioning through a newspaper ad to getting kicked out of the band before their debut album, Dave didn’t hold anything back.

A Newspaper Ad, A Bond Over Budgie, and One Hell of an Audition

In the early 1980s, Mustaine was searching for a new band after his group Panic dissolved. He stumbled upon an ad in The Recycler, a classifieds paper in Los Angeles. “Go figure,” Dave recalled:

“The biggest band in the world would advertise in this newspaper.”

The ad led him to Lars Ulrich, who was hunting for a lead guitarist. They hit it off right away over their shared love for obscure bands like Budgie. “You like fucking Budgie, man?” Lars asked. That sealed it.

Dave drove down to Lars’ place in Newport Beach. “My mom was a maid,” Mustaine said. “She actually worked an event at the complex Lars lived in. What a story—that’s two different sides of the same coin.” When Dave heard “Hit The Lights,” he immediately thought it needed more lead solos. Typical Mustaine confidence.

He soon found himself at bassist Ron McGovney’s place, where James Hetfield was living too. Mustaine plugged in, started warming up—and before he even played a full song, Lars and James told him: “You got the gig.”

Thriving on Stage, Fistfights Off It

Mustaine had no doubt he’d make the cut. “There weren’t many guitar players like me around then,” he said. “Who was there? Randy Rhoads. Warren DeMartini from Ratt. That was about it.”

Once in the band, Dave quickly became the group’s enforcer. “If there was ever any stuff going down, I had to take care of it,” he said. Whether it was collecting money from shady club owners or stepping in during altercations, Mustaine didn’t shy away. “James was very peaceful, and Lars liked to have fun. But when it came time to get serious, that was me.”

His temper, however, was hard to ignore. One infamous moment involved him attacking a man beating a woman in an alley. “James wasn’t a fighter. He just stood there yelling, ‘Kill him!’” Dave said. After subduing the guy, they waited for paramedics. Another time, things exploded when James kicked Mustaine’s puppy. “I said, ‘What did you just do?’ And that was it. Two strikes. I punched James and tossed Ron into his TV.”

The Crash That Changed Everything

Things fell apart during a cross-country trip in 1983 when the band moved to New York to work with Jonny Zazula of Megaforce Records. Mustaine was driving a truck through snow—a skill he didn’t have. They hit black ice, spun out, and nearly got killed.

One crew member, Mark Whitaker, almost died. “If I hadn’t seen that truck coming and pushed him out of the way, he’d be dead right now,” Dave said.

But that crash became the excuse to let him go. “They tried to pin that driving thing on me as the last straw.” Not long after, Lars and James woke him up and said, “You’re out of the band.” Mustaine pleaded, “No warning? No second chance?” But it was final.

Writing the Riffs, But Getting No Credit

Mustaine insists that many of Metallica’s early classics were built off his riffs. “I told them, ‘Do not use my music.’ And of course they used it.” He listed songs like “Ride the Lightning,” “The Call of Ktulu,” “Phantom Lord,” “Jump in the Fire,” “Metal Militia,” and “The Four Horsemen” as examples of his work. “Even ‘Leper Messiah’—you listen to the riffs, you know they’re mine.”

Asked why he was the only one fired despite the band’s heavy drinking, Mustaine said: “Because when I got drunk, I got violent.” He also admitted to punching James once and challenging Lars on his drumming. “I told them, ‘It’s either me or James.’ Other times, I’d say, ‘It’s either me or Lars, ‘cause Lars sucks.’ I got the axe in the end.”

Moving On—But Not Letting Go

After being fired, Mustaine returned home bitter and frustrated. “I told my friend, ‘I quit.’ She said, ‘No, you didn’t. You got fired.’” Determined to prove himself, he went on to form Megadeth. “We may not be as big as they are,” he said, “but hell, their biggest song ‘Enter Sandman’—go listen to Excel’s ‘Tapping Into the Emotional Void.’ Pretty similar.”

Talks of reuniting for a “No Life ‘Til Leather” re-release eventually broke down over publishing rights. According to Mustaine, “Lars wanted credit on two songs I wrote every note and word to.” James had even admitted their recent projects had flopped and wanted to make things right. But when Mustaine laid out the terms, James replied, “That’s kind of what it was, and that’s how it is.” Mustaine walked away again. Dave said:

“I would love to work with James. I’d even work with Lars.
“But I think the real talent in Metallica has always been around the guitar.”

He also recalled watching Lars awkwardly write the intro to “Master of Puppets” on a terrible acoustic guitar.

“It wasn’t anything mind-blowing. But the way James played it made it mind-blowing.”

Still Standing

Despite not being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Metallica in 2009, Mustaine has found peace. Lars once said, “He never played on any Metallica records.” But Dave’s fingerprints are all over their early sound—and he knows it.

He’s moved on, but the fire still burns. He said:

“They wronged me, but it fueled me.
“And I made Megadeath out of that fire.”

For Mustaine, that chapter with Metallica will always be part of his story—but not the whole story. And as far as his legacy goes? He’s carved his own path, one riff at a time.