During a recent appearance on Steve-O’s Wild Ride!, Dave Mustaine criticized Metallica’s manager for making a ‘gutless’ comment during a difficult time for him.
In 2010-2011, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax toured together to celebrate thrash metal, but Megadeth nearly missed the final show at Yankee Stadium in New York City due to Mustaine’s neck health issues.
When the host asked about how headbanging changed his approach to performing, Mustaine explained, “In the beginning, it was a big difference for me because I couldn’t move. I remember we were scheduled to play Yankee Stadium with the Big Four concert the day that they found out I needed my neck to be fused together.'”
Mustaine went on to describe what happened next, saying, “So I’m laying on the emergency table and my manager says, ‘Oh, Metallica’s manager called you a p*ssy because you’re going to get your neck fused together and you’re not going to come out here and play instead.'”
He added, “I thought that’s a gutless thing to say. I’m laying here getting ready to have back surgery and you call me a p*ssy. So I had the doctor stitch me up, inject me full of all kinds of steroids and sh*t. I went and played the concert and then I went back and I had the surgery.”
Earlier this year, Mustaine opened up about his neck injury in an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, sharing that it had a significant impact on his music and live performances. “I had my neck fused together and a plate put in my vocal box area. That’s changed a lot of stuff because my voice has been limited because of trying to save my ability to walk,” he said.
He went on to explain, “They fused my neck together because I’d gone to a chiropractor, and he had adjusted me while he was angry at something and broke a bone in my neck. So the guy broke my neck, and I lived with it for a few years in agonizing pain. I finally got an X-ray, and they said, ‘You need to get your neck fixed now.’ That was right before the Big 4 show at Yankee Stadium. The day before the concert, I was in the hospital.”
Mustaine continued, “The day of the concert, I had flown out right before it and was on so much anti-inflammatory steroidal medicine so I could walk because my neck was getting ready to stop working. [But] I went out and played, and we had all kinds of tape all over the stage [that said], ‘Do not headbang.'”
In addition to his neck issues, Mustaine also revealed in 2019 that he had battled throat cancer. He announced that he was cancer-free at a Megadeth concert in 2020.
