MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine says that it’s just a matter of time before he is inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Mustaine, who was a member of METALLICA for less than two years, from 1981 to 1983, before being dismissed and replaced by Kirk Hammett, was not inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with the band during the April 2009 ceremony at Cleveland, Ohio’s Public Auditorium. Despite this, he has found some solace in the fact that he is credited on the first two METALLICA albums and co-wrote half a dozen or so songs with the band which, inarguably, helped launch their career.
“I’m basically in there with the METALLICA thing; that was basically just a diss those guys pulled,” Dave told The Columbus Dispatch in a new interview. “But it would nice to be in there on my own two feet. I’m sure at some point it will happen. You can’t create a whole frickin’ music style and not be recognized for it.”
After twelve nominations in the past twenty-six years, MEGADETH finally won a Grammy Award for “Best Metal Performance” earlier this year.
Even so, Mustaine told The Columbus Dispatch that he won’t be fully satisfied until he has a Grammy with his own name on it.
“As crazy as I am, I was thinking about the Grammy the other day and [how] it was given to MEGADETH,” Mustaine said. “I was thinking it would surely be a lot better if it was given to Dave Mustaine and not to MEGADETH. I guess you’ve got to keep the fire burning.”
Mustaine told Noisey last year that he was “hoping” to be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, but added that “if they don’t want me in there, it’s okay. I mean, I am in there vis-à-vis METALLICA, and no matter what those guys say or what anybody believes about their induction ceremony, they wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for me being in the band, because I was there in the beginning, so I have some satisfaction.”
METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich later explained to The Plain Dealer that Mustaine was not included because “you’ve got to kind of cap it somewhere. Dave Mustaine never played on any METALLICA records. No disrespect to him. But there [were] half a dozen other people that were in the lineup in the early days. We thought . . . the fair thing to do would be to include anybody that played on a METALLICA record.”
He added: “Dave Mustaine was in the band for 11 months, predominantly in 1982. . . . I’m not trying to play it down. I have nothing but respect and admiration for his accomplishments since.”
METALLICA invited Mustaine to attend the Rock Hall induction. He declined, citing European tour commitments, but issued a statement congratulating the band. He later explained his absence in an interview, saying: “I’m not gonna sit in the audience and watch the band I started with these two guys get inducted and me not be a part of it.”
He added: “There’s ten million people that agree [I should have been inducted]. . . You know what [Lars] said to me?! He said, [imitating Lars‘ Danish accent] ‘Only the people that are on the fucking record can be at the Hall Of Fame, man.’ And I was like, ‘Well, Hooked On Phonics worked for me; I can read my name; it’s all over [the first METALLICA album]. [Laughs] But you know what?! It’s okay, ’cause if I’m gonna get into the Hall Of Fame, there’s nothing he can do to stop me.”
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