Being a metal musician has its downfalls, it seems, with former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted being told by doctors to quit headbanging after giving himself whiplash.
If you’ve ever been to a metal concert, you’d likely be aware of just how animated folks can get. Whether it’s the frantic moshing of the fans, the blistering activity by musicians, and the headbanging shared between both parties, it’s a hectic time.
However, anyone could likely tell you just how dangerous constant headbanding could be, whether it’s the effect it has on your brain or spine. Now though, one of the genre’s most notable members has discussed how a history of issues caused by headbanging has eventually resulted in a slight career change.
Ever since he came to prominence as the bassist of Metallica back in 1986, Jason Newsted was a rather famous metal musician. However, his animated behaviour reportedly began to catch up with him in the early ’90s, with doctors advising him to quit his onstage antics.
While Newsted left the metal icons in 2001, he’s played with a few heavy bands since, but his latest outfit – Jason Newsted And The Chophouse Band – has seen him taking on a comparatively subdued approach to music.
Check out Jason Newstead on WZZR:
Speaking to US radio station WZZR recently, Newsted revealed that his years of headbanging had actually resulted in whiplash, making him one of the most genuine metalheads in the game at the time.
“It’s been a lot of time, 25-ish years, going pretty hard, headbanging, I gave myself whiplash,” he explained. Literally hundreds of times.
“And so, through the years, doctors of all different languages and countries, they told me, you know, ‘No more that, no more of the spinning the head.’ And that was about ’91
“Where are we now? Am I’m still kind of doing that, but I did 10 years more solid after that, being told not to. So between all of that thing and going literally spine… like, all tangles and mangled, had to calm down a little bit.
“So now the focus is still the same, the juice is still the same, the energy is still the same, the amps are a little smaller.”
Despite the fact that he’s been advised to no longer band his head, Jason Newsted does assure fans that there will be no decline in quality when it comes to his shows in the future.
“You can take the bullet out of metal, but not the metal out of the bullet – that type of thing,” he continues. “So that’s always gonna be there, the fangs are still sharp; so whatever we play, if it’s Johnny Cash or whatever it may be, it’s still gonna have that wallop, I think.
In related news, Aussie metalheads were undoubtedly devastated last month to learn that the highly-anticipated tour Jason Newsted’s old bandmates – Metallica – would not be going ahead as planned.
Originally slated to kick off next week, the band revealed that their upcoming dates would be postponed while frontman James Hetfield entered a treatment program in order to confront his struggles with addiction.
At this stage, there’s no word as to when these dates will be rescheduled, though proposed tourmates Slipknot say they’re hoping to bring their live show down to Australia regardless at a similarly undetermined date.
Check out ‘Whiplash’ by Metallica:
