“Look how many people have been in his band. Fifty?”: Kerry King says he and Dave Mustaine would have “butted heads like no tomorrow” if he’d stayed in Megadeth
Slayer’s Kerry King has opened up about his short stint in Megadeth and why his decision to bail early was a good one in hindsight.
Looking back on his early days with Megadeth in a new interview with Bangers Open Air, the guitarist shares why sticking around for good and being in the same band as Dave Mustaine would have been a recipe for chaos.
READ MORE: Slayer’s Kerry King says Tom Araya is “not the guy I started the band with”: “He became a very different person…”
“Well, I love Mustaine to this day. I think he’s one of the greatest guitar players out there – still,” says King [via Blabbermouth]. “So when I caught – I don’t even remember how I heard that he wanted me to play second guitar to him. But I was flattered because even back then I thought he was awesome.”
At the time, Slayer had just released their 1983 debut Show No Mercy and was “in between records”, with 1985’s Hell Awaits on the way. So when former the Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine invited King to join his brand-new project, Megadeth, he jumped at the chance to test the waters.
King ended up playing several shows with the band in 1984, which left some fans wondering whether he might make the leap for good. Asked if he’d actually considered making his stay in Megadeth permanent, King replies: “I’m sure I probably did, but [Slayer] is where I belong. And in hindsight, I absolutely made the right choice ‘cause me and Dave would’ve butted heads like no tomorrow.”
“It’s just his personality,” King adds. “I mean, look how many people have been in his band. Fifty? And that’s not me down-talking Mustaine. I like hanging with him for 20 minutes, and then you go away and ‘I’ll see you in a year.’”
Earlier this year, Slayer revealed that they will be joining the lineup for Black Sabbath’s final hometown show in Birmingham this July. While the band previously announced their decision to retire in 2019 — “Tom was just done,” King had said, they have since reunited for a handful of shows, including appearances at Riot Fest, Aftershock Festival, and the upcoming Louder Than Life festival this September.
The post “Look how many people have been in his band. Fifty?”: Kerry King says he and Dave Mustaine would have “butted heads like no tomorrow” if he’d stayed in Megadeth appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
