Former Metallica bassist/vocalist Jason Newsted has spoken further about his struggles with addiction, revealing more detail about the personal battles that contributed to his departure from the band in 2001.
Earlier this year, Newsted pushed back against long-standing narratives suggesting he left due to tensions over side projects like Echobrain, instead stating that his exit was driven by a severe addiction that required immediate treatment.
Speaking on the Let There Be Talk podcast, Newsted described how his commitments to Metallica prevented him from stepping away to seek help when he felt he needed it most.
“The reason I left Metallica is because I was a horrible addict. I was way up against myself, and if I didn’t get some kind of help, I was going to die. And so I just said, ‘You guys, can I have a minute? Please give me a minute.’ And they said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘I would rather live than be in your band.’”
Newsted has now expanded further on that period in a new interview with Spin, detailing how years of injuries and surgeries led to long-term dependence on prescription painkillers.
“In the mid- to late ’90s, I had a lot of pretty serious neck and spine issues. It’s easy to see the map of why this is fucked up. In that time, I would start taking Vicodin and get through some days. I kept going and going and going. The injury was in a place that couldn’t really be repaired.”
He went on to explain that his dependency escalated over time, particularly between surgeries, before he ultimately managed to step away from the drugs around 2010.
“Within the addiction, I would say probably 10 or 12 years on painkillers, off and on but 2004 to 2008, full on because the surgeries did what they did. I got out of one right back into another. I finally got off that shit by the time I was just about to do my first exhibit.”
Newsted added that his recovery period eventually led to a new creative chapter in his life, including the beginning of his global art career.
“I had peeled myself off the drugs and started getting back to myself again. That’s when the global art thing started happening for me and the Paris gallery representative. I had about 10 years of that.”
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[Via ThePRP]
