Jason Curtis Newsted is an American metal musician, known for playing bass guitar with
the bands Metallica, Voivod and Flotsam and Jetsam.
Joining Metallica in 1986 after Cliff Burton's death, Newsted remained a member until 2001,
making him the band's longest-serving bassist.
After he left Metallica, he continued with his project Echobrain, played with Ozzy Osbourne
and joined heavy metal band Voivod.
Newsted uses the pseudonym Jasonic, which serves as both his alias in Voivod and the
name of his music publishing company.
He is also the founder of the Chophouse Records studio and label based in California.
He currently plays in his self-titled band Newsted, in which he provides lead vocals
as well as bass.
Biography Early life
Jason Newsted was born into a family of musicians: his mother taught piano and one of his brothers
plays trumpet.
He was exposed to music as a child, listening to the record collections of his older brothers.
His first instrument was a guitar, which started to play at 9 years old, but he moved to bass
at 14, after listening to Gene Simmons of Kiss.
Newsted cites Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath as his major influence.
He lists Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, Peter Baltes of Accept,
Geddy Lee of Rush, Rob Grange of Ted Nugent and Bill Church of Montrose as other significant
influences.
Flotsam and Jetsam
The early part of Newsted's music career had him performing bass for Flotsam and Jetsam
and their 1986 album Doomsday for the Deceiver.
Newsted wrote the majority of lyrics for the album.
Metallica
Following the death of Metallica's bassist Cliff Burton in September 1986 on the Europe
leg of the Damage Inc.
Tour, the group began a search for a new bassist.
Newsted auditioned along with roughly 39 other musicians and in winning the role, his first
live performance with Metallica was at the Country Club in Reseda, California.
His debut with Metallica was on The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited in 1987.
This was followed by his first studio album with the band, ...And Justice for All, which
was subject to controversy and criticism for its production, among other issues, for its
murky bass sound.
Newsted claims this was further hazing on the part of Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield,
although both Ulrich and Hetfield claim they were also disappointed with the production
of the album.
In addition, they claim that most/all of Newsted's bass lines closely followed the rhythm guitar
lines to the point of being indiscernible from each other.
Nonetheless, the album peaked at number 6 on the Billboard 200 and projected the band
to higher success.
Newsted performed on ...And Justice for All, the self-titled Metallica, which is the best-selling
Metallica album to date and made the group a world-known band, Load and ReLoad.
The live concerts Live Shit: Binge & Purge and Cunning Stunts were produced in 1993 and
1997 respectively, and S&M in 1999.
Newsted also played bass on the song "I Disappear" in 2000.
During his time in Metallica, Newsted played the bass guitar and also sang backing vocals
on a number of Metallica songs.
During the tours after 1991, he would often sing parts of "Creeping Death", "Whiplash"
and "Seek and Destroy", and he performed lead in most songs for three shows at the Summer
Sanitarium Tour where Hetfield was recovering from injury.
He is known for his bass solo which included parts of "My Friend of Misery" and bass parts
from his former band, Flotsam and Jetsam.
He has co-written three Metallica songs: "Blackened"
"My Friend of Misery" "Where the Wild Things Are"
Departure from Metallica During a meeting between the members of Metallica
in January 2001, Newsted proposed that the band should take a year-long hiatus, and he
would use that time to focus on his side-project Echobrain.
When the other band members rejected Newsted's proposals, he decided to quit the band.
On January 17, as plans were being made for the band to enter the recording studio to
record its eighth studio album, Newsted announced his departure.
Newsted's statement revealed his departure was based on "private and personal reasons
and the physical damage I have done to myself over the years while playing the music that
I love."
During a Playboy interview with Metallica, Newsted revealed that he wanted to release
an album with Echobrain.
Hetfield was against the idea and said, "When someone does a side project, it takes away
from the strength of Metallica."
Newsted countered his statement by citing Hetfield's contributions to other musical
outlets.
Hetfield replied, "My name isn't on those records, and I'm not out trying to sell them,"
and pondered questions such as Where would it end?
Does he start touring with it?
Does he sell shirts?
Is it his band?
Newsted's departure from Metallica, along with Hetfield's decision to go to rehab a
few months later, nearly led to a breakup of the band.
After Hetfield rejoined Metallica, the band finished recording St. Anger, with record
producer Bob Rock filling in the bass slot.
Robert Trujillo became the band's new bassist in 2003.
Newsted has stated that he has never regretted leaving the band.
"I tell you very honestly, one billion percent, I have never regretted leaving Metallica.
It was the right thing for everyone.
It was the right thing to do for the camp.
That's it.
I've never told anyone that I wanted to go back or anything like that—not once.
I made up my mind.
It was not an easy thing to do, but it was something I had to do.
I thought about it very much before I pulled the trigger and because of that, I have never
looked back.
The past is where it's supposed to be."
It was mentioned in the film Some Kind of Monster that there was a rumor that Newsted
would possibly rejoin the band, but it was proven false.
Despite his departure from Metallica, Newsted remains close with the other band members.
On April 4, 2009, Newsted joined Metallica for its induction into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
He also performed three songs at the event—"Master of Puppets", "Enter Sandman", and "Train Kept
A-Rollin'"—with Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett, and Robert Trujillo, and Jeff Beck, Jimmy
Page, Joe Perry, Ron Wood, and Flea.
On December 5, 7, 9 and 10, 2011, Newsted reunited with Metallica during all four of
their 30th anniversary shows and performed several songs with the band, Trujillo and,
in some cases, other guest musicians.
Hetfield noted how the fans "lit up" as Newsted walked on stage, smiling and waving to the
crowd.
On December 16, 2013, Newsted revealed why he left the band and cited that his project
with Echobrain was being discouraged by James Hetfield because Metallica's management at
Q Prime wanted to go ahead with promoting Echobrain but was forced to drop it by Hetfield's
demands with the quote "other arrangements can be made".
Jason was sure that Echobrain would not affect Metallica as it was the pedigree that it already
needed.
Newsted continues, “And so they had told me, pretty convincingly, ‘This is a great
record, we’ve been playing it around the office, that’s all I’ve been hearing,
it’s fantastic, this kid has a great voice.
Let’s do something with this.’
That’s what they told me, and then James Hetfield heard about it and was not happy.
He was, I think, pretty much out to put the kibosh on the whole thing because it would
somehow affect Metallica in his eyes, because now the managers were interested in something
I was doing that had nothing to do with him.”The bassist sums up the situation as follows:
“I have no idea what [Hetfield] was thinking, other than just protecting what he valued,
just like he does; that's his thing.
He protects what he loves, squeezes it too hard, like he said himself.
Squeeze it too hard, protecting it too much.
That's where I was coming from.
The people that I had counted on for 15 years to help me with my career, help Metallica,
take care of my money, do all of those things, told me, 'Your new project is fantastic, we'd
like to help you with it.'
James heard about it, the manager calls me back a couple of days later – 'Sorry we're
not going to be able to help you with that Echobrain thing.'”
Ozzy Osbourne Band
Newsted joined Canadian thrash metal band Voivod in 2002.
Coincidentally, he was also Trujillo's replacement in Osbourne's band during Ozzfest 2003, which
included Voivod as a Second Stage act.
During an MTV interview, both Osbourne and Newsted showed extreme enthusiasm in writing
a new album together, with Osbourne comparing Newsted to "a young Geezer Butler."
However, this would not come to fruition as Newsted left Osbourne upon finishing tour
duties in late 2003.
He would soon be replaced by Rob Zombie bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson.
Newsted then focused solely on Voivod, in which, much like Echobrain, the group was
funded entirely through him.
They recorded two albums before Newsted's participation in Rock Star Supernova, a supergroup
created through reality television series Rock Star: Supernova in 2006.
Voivod
The fourth incarnation of Voivod featured three of the four founding members: Denis
Bélanger, Denis D'Amour, and Michel Langevin, with Jason Newsted on bass guitar.
Guitarist D'Amour died at the age of 45 on August 26, 2005 due to complications from
colon cancer.
The record Katorz, released in July 2006, was based around riffs found on D'Amour's
laptop.
A December 2008 update on Voivod's website noted that Newsted played "all the bass tracks"
on their latest album Infini, which was released on June 23, 2009.
Voivod have since reunited with original bass player Jean-Yves Thériault.
Rock Star Supernova
Supernova formed the basis of the second season of the CBS television program Rock Star in
the quest to find a lead singer.
The show began online on the Rock Star web site on MSN on Monday, July 3, 2006 with an
Internet exclusive weekly episode, and premiered on CBS on that Wednesday, July 5.
Votes were cast via the website.
On September 13, 2006, Lukas Rossi was crowned the winner.
Shoulder injury On October 23, 2006, Newsted was injured while
attempting to catch a falling bass amp head.
The accident resulted in a torn anterior labrum in his left shoulder and a rotator cuff and
biceps tear in the right.
He was scheduled for immediate surgery, and underwent a lengthy rehab process.
During this time he was unable to play, and began to express himself through painting.
On January 4, 2007, he was back playing his bass again.
Art career While recovering from his shoulder injury,
Newsted found solace through painting.
Newsted has turned out a number of large original works of art over the last half a decade.
Jason Newsted says that he went "from making crazy and colorful music to making crazy and
colorful paintings."
His first gallery show opened on May 4, 2010 at Micaëla Gallery in San Francisco.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction On April 4, 2009, Newsted was present with
Metallica and played with the band alongside current bassist Robert Trujillo at the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland.
It was his first performance with the band in nearly a decade, their last performance
together having taken place during the 2000 Summer Sanitarium tour.
Both Newsted and Trujillo performed onstage at the same time, which was a first for the
band.
WhoCares In October 2010 it was announced that Newsted
would be joining a supergroup with singer Ian Gillan and former keyboardist Jon Lord
from Deep Purple, guitarist Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath, second guitarist Mikko Lindström
from HIM and drummer Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden.
The band, called WhoCares, recorded a charity single titled "Out of My Mind".
The charity single also features a track titled "Holy Water" and is available as via digital
download or CD format as of May 6, 2011.
Newsted
In December 2012, Jason announced that he had formed his own band called Newsted with
drummer Jesus Mendez Jr. and guitarist Jessie Farnsworth, with Staind guitarist Mike Mushok
joining later in March 2013.
The band released a four-song EP, titled Metal, on January 8, 2013.
Newsted released its debut album entitled Heavy Metal Music on August 6, 2013.
Philanthropy In 2004, Newsted signed on as an official
supporter of Little Kids Rock, a non-profit organization that provides free musical instruments
and instruction to children in underserved public schools throughout the U.S.A.
Newsted sits on LKR's Honorary board of directors.
Equipment Bass guitars
Aria Pro II SB Black & Gold I – You can clearly see the Oval inlays in the Garage
days pictures Fender 1958 Precision Bass – Sunburst w/anodized
gold pickguard Sadowsky – Black Vintage with Ash body
Sadowsky – Black Vintage Sadowsky – PJ – Cherry Sunburst and Caramel
Sunburst Sadowsky – Vintage – Lake Placid Blue
Sadowsky – Vintage – Cherry Sunburst Sadowsky – Black Vintage – 24 Fret
Alembic – Elan – At least two, one is converted to Series II electronics – Formerly
featured JJ pickup configuration – Black Alembic – Europa – Series II electronics
– Black Alembic – Spoiler – Converted to Series
II electronics – Black Alembic – Persuader – Converted to Series
II electronics – Black – Formerly sporting a clear gloss natural finish and two J-Bass
pickups, it was repainted black when Jason sent the bass back to Alembic to have Series
II electronics installed; it is erroneously referred to as a Spoiler, though Jason DID
have a black Spoiler made for him as well and both basses are nearly identical; the
only telltale sign being the location of the bird-shaped bridge.
Alembic – Persuader P/P pickups Alembic – 20th Anniversary bass
ESP Horizon Bass – Red – Jason added a Metallica logo decal and a decal of the Jump
in the Fire demon.
ESP B-1 – Black 1981 Spector NS-2 – Black, used in studio
only – According to Jason, this bass once belonged to Phil Soussan.
Stuart Spector Design JN-4, JN-5, and JN-6 Signature Models – Transparent black satin
– Extremely rare, modified SD body shape, quilted maple top, piezo pickup option, and
red fiber optic side markers.
Jason used these basses live from 1994–1995.
Guild acoustic bass Wal MKII – Black w.
Gold hardware Hamer 12-string bass
Zon Legacy Elite fretless 5-string & Sonus Special 5-string
Rickenbacker 4003 – White Dingwall Voodoo Bass
Effects Boss Flanger BF-2
MXR Phase 100 Mu-tron III Bass Pedal
Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI Tech 21 XXL Overdrive
Korg G-5 Bass Synth Processor Electro-Harmonix Big Muff
Alesis Midiverb II Barcus-Berry Electronics Sonic Maximizer
Morley Power Wah Boost Amplifiers
Mesa/Boogie 1x15 combo Mesa/Boogie with SWR Heads
Gibson Skylark Guitar amp Fender Folded Horn 1x18
Ampeg 1974 SVT head Ampeg SVT cabinets
Ampeg SVT II Ampeg 1980s SVTs
Ampeg SVT 8x10" pro speaker cabinets Ampeg ISO Vent 10" 15" speaker cabinets
Ampeg B-15 combo amp Discography
Echobrain Echobrain
Strange Enjoyment Glean
Flotsam and Jetsam Doomsday for the Deceiver
No Place for Disgrace Ugly Noise
Gov't Mule The Deep End, Volume 2
IR8/Sexoturica IR8 vs. Sexoturica
Metallica The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited
...And Justice for All Metallica
Live Shit: Binge and Purge Load
ReLoad Garage Inc.
S&M "I Disappear"
Six Feet Down Under Moss Brothers
Electricitation Newsted
Metal Heavy Metal Music
Papa Wheelie Unipsycho
Live Lycanthropy Rock Star Supernova
Rock Star Supernova Sepultura
Against Unkle
Psyence Fiction Voivod
Voivod Katorz
Infini WhoCares
Out of My Mind / Holy Water References
External links Official website
Jason Newsted at Twitter Music Legends Interview with Jason Newsted