Dave Mustaine Reveals His Exit From Metallica Is ‘Destiny’

He Wanted To Form A Band “That’s More Metal Than Metallica”

38 years ago, Dave Mustaine was fired from Metallica due to his excessive drinking. They were about to record their debut album at the time. In an interview with Gibson for their “Icons” series, the Megadeth frontman candidly talked about his tenure with Metallica including the time he was sent back home. He called that particular bus ride “dangerous” and “bad”.

“I don’t know. I probably was destined to leave before that because of, you know, the word ‘destiny’ and the fact that there was just so much talent and so much personality between the four of us,” he noted. “I don’t know that we could have survived. There was destined to be some kind of an explosion at some point.”

“I did a lot of soul searching on the way home,” he recalled. “Did I wanna play guitar? Did I wanna keep doing this? ‘What am I gonna do? I got it. I’m gonna make a band that’s more metal than METALLICA.'”

It wasn’t just the dismissal that took a toll on him, it was also the loss of his friendship with the other members. He lost his band, and in the process, he also lost his friends.