Ex-Metallica’s Jason Newsted: ‘I Don’t Think James Hetfield Will Ever Recover From Losing Cliff Burton’

“This is kind of shit that cuts so deep, you know, no matter how many people you’re talking with, it’s still going to be there.”

Jason Newsted reflected on how the tragic loss of Cliff Burton affected Metallica and their frontman James Hetfield in particular, stressing how much he respects James for his ability to still give his all to the band and its fans despite his inner demons.

Cliff tragically passed away towards the end of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” tour in 1986, when the band’s tour bus skidded off a road in Sweden.

Both past and present members of Metallica stressed on numerous occasions that Cliff had been both a mentor figure and a dear friend to all his bandmates, and how his departure deeply affected the remaining three musicians.

In a new interview on the “Let There Be Talk” podcast, Jason Newsted, who ended up replacing Cliff later in 1986, noted how his predecessor’s death wasn’t the first loss that James Hetfield suffered in his life, praising his former bandmate for not giving in despite all the emotional weight he carries (transcription via Rock Celebrities):

“I don’t think that James will probably ever recover from the Cliff thing because of his abandonment and separation; [because] of things that happened to him and his family and suffering so far beyond his control. This is kind of shit that cuts so deep, you know, no matter how many people you’re talking with, it’s still going to be there.

“So within all of that, he had to find a way to compartmentalize, you know, there’s a thing Ive learned over these past years with the respect that I’ve always had great respect for the guy, but even more so now there was never a time I didn’t respect him.

“His ability to harness and or process and field everything that comes at him and what he’s able to do with the crowd, there’s only a handful [of people that can do the same]…”