Dave Mustaine Says He Was ‘Clearly the Alpha’ in Metallica, Addresses James Hetfield’s Recent Struggles With Insecurity

“I am clearly the alpha male between the three of us.”

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Dave Mustaine recently posited that he was “clearly the alpha male” in early Metallica, and praised James Hetfield’s playing in light of his former bandmate’s recent struggles with insecurity.

From a fan’s point of view, Dave Mustaine’s infamous 1983 split with Metallica was probably for the best, as without it, the world would be one very important heavy-hitter short of the “Big Four” of thrash metal.

And while it is well known how the Megadeth mastermind used to feel about getting fired by Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield back in the day, Dave now tells Classic Rock he’s well past gnawing that bone of contention – but still asserts that between him, James, and Lars, he was the alpha dog.

Once Mustaine’s claim of being “the leader of the band” in early Metallica (found in the autobiography “Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir”) was brought up and the interviewer Paul Elliott noted how James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich were “such alpha males”, Dave replied:

“Oh no. I am clearly the alpha male between the three of us. Why did I have to do everything when I was in the band? Why did they always ask me talk to the promoters and collect the cash? Why was I the one who had to do the fighting? Why did I have to talk in between songs?”

Asked to comment on being driven by the long-held grudge against Metallica in his early career, Mustaine replied:

“How can you expect a boy who’s twenty and the guitar player in one of the biggest new things in the world to have a grasp on reality? Everything from that point forward was a fucking feud. Everywhere I went it was: ‘So, how’s everything going with Meta… er, Megadeth?’”

Nowadays, talking about Metallica doesn’t pose a problem for the thrash icon – in fact, Mustaine seems to enjoy a great relationship with his former Metallica bandmates.

In order to illustrate his point, Mustaine recalled how he offered support to James Hetfield after he heard of the Metallica frontman’s bout of insecurity concerning his playing skills:

“I really don’t give a fuck. And you know what? I love those guys. I sent a text message to James just a couple of days ago after he’d said that he was insecure about his playing. I said: ‘James, I love you and I really like your playing.’ He didn’t answer. Of course not. Why would he? The point is I wanted him to know that I’ve had those feelings too, but I don’t now.

“I must remind you that when I joined Metallica, James did not play guitar. He just picked it up and started playing when I was in the band.

Praising Papa Het’s guitar-playing chops, Mustaine went on:

“But let’s be honest, James is one of the best metal guitar players in the world. So for him to have those feelings, that’s a lie, because he’s a mind-blowingly talented guy. So I just felt I needed to say something to him. I didn’t tweet it. I didn’t want anybody to know what I said. But I’m telling you because, hey, you brought it up!”

Megadeth’s sixteenth studio album “The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!” is out now via Tradecraft/Universal.