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Dave Mustaine says he’s “secretly hoping” to write music with James Hetfield again

“I think it’d be good for Megadeth, and it could be great for Metallica too,” he said.

Dave Mustaine and James Hetfield

Image: Chiaki Nozu / Didier Messens / Getty

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Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has revealed that his hopes of writing music with one-time Metallica bandmate James Hetfield again.

Speaking with Andrew Daly of Vinyl Writer Music, Mustaine revealed he had been “secretly hoping” there’d be a day when he and Hetfield can write together again.

“I think the world really does want us to do that, and I think there is a pretty good possibility of it happening down the line,” Mustaine said. “I do think that it’s possible that one day James is going to come around and that he and I are going to be able to do something together again. I guess that’s one of the things that has always kept me pushing forward. I think it’d be good for Megadeth, and it could be great for Metallica too.”

In true Mustaine fashion, he also attributed his longevity to “being a badass” in the interview.

Mustaine has previously aired his regrets about the incident that he says led to him being fired from Metallica, where his dog scratched the paint on Metallica bassist Ron McGovney’s car door, leading to Hetfield allegedly kicking Mustaine’s dog and Mustaine punching Hetfield in retaliation.

“It was a dumb thing that I did by taking my dog up to practice, and it was even dumber to punch him,” Mustaine said. “I really respect him, and I respect his playing, and I hope he knows that there are a lot of people out there, like me, that like him as a person and don’t give two fucks about him being in Metallica.”

Former Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson also recently claimed Mustaine was not “over” his firing from Metallica shortly before the release of their 1983 debut LP Kill ‘Em All, calling Mustaine “abusive” in the process.

“Look, I think part of it, too, is he’s obviously not gotten over this thing about being fired from Metallica,” Ellefson said on the 2020’d podcast. “He wanted to do to somebody else what he felt they did to him, which is kick him out and then someone else play his guitar parts.”

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