It’s hard to imagine Metallica fronted by anyone other than James Hetfield, but there was a point when Papa Het considered stepping back from the microphone to focus on playing guitar.
In late 1982 and early 1983, Metallica were making a name for themselves on the LA scene as a heavier antidote to the emerging Sunset Strip hard rock scene. But Hetfield was unsure of his abilities as a vocalist, and the idea was floated of getting in a different singer to allow him to focus on playing guitar.
“I liked James, but no one knew his power at the time,” the band’s late original manager and record label boss Jon Zazula (aka Jonny Z) told Metal Hammer in 2017. “He was Metallica’s singer, but they had ideas of going further with a lead singer.”
They had a candidate in mind: John Bush, frontman with local heavy metal heroes Armored Saint. The latter were were already creating a buzz on the LA scene.
“We were already doing really well,” Bush told Metal Hammer in 2017. “We were playing the Troubadour [West Hollywood nightclub] and headlining. Saint were rolling; we were playing clubs and generating good attendance at shows.”
Bush himself knew who Metallica were. He’d seen their second-ever gig, opening for Saxon at Sunset Strip club the Whisky A Go Go in March 1982. The line-up at the time included guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist Ron McGovney alongside Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield. Bush admitted being underwhelmed by the competition the first time he saw them.
“It was in their early stages,” he told Hammer in 2017. “James had these leopard pants and he was just holding the mic and singing – no guitar. It’s safe to say that he was pretty green and pretty insecure about his position. Later I saw Metallica open for Y&T. They were on then. James was playing guitar at that point and they were way better.”
The feeling was mutual. “Lars was in love with the way John sang for Armored Saint, and I guess Armored Saint was the one band from the LA area that stood out as not a poser hair band, so he took to John and wanted him to do the job,” recalled Jonny Z.
“It was before they started recording Kill ’Em All,” Bush told Metal Hammer. “Jonny Zazula was the one who called and asked if I was interested.”
Today, it might look like a no-brainer, but circumstances were different back then. While Metallica were on the rise, they were far from the trailblazers they became. At the time, Armored Saint were equally popular, if not more so.
“When Metallica came to me, they were still a local band who were gaining some traction,” said Bush. “And that’s what Armored Saint was. So it made no sense for me to say, ‘I’m out of here, I’m going to join this band,’ when I was happy in my band and we were doing well.
“I was flattered, of course. But I explained my reason for wanting to stay with Armored Saint and I said, ‘Thank you very much. It’s a huge compliment but I’m going to stay with my band.’”
It was down to Zazula to break the news to the rest of the band. Other names were mooted, including Jess Cox of UK NWOBHM band Tygers Of Pan Tang and even Lars Ulrich himself. “There was a point where James was joking about, and said, ‘Lars is a great frontman! Get him up there!’” said Zazula.
In the end, Hetfield opted to remain as the band’s frontman, though it wouldn’t be the only time Metallica tapped up a member of Armored Saint to join them - bassist Joey Vera was approached to replace Cliff Burton’s after the latter’s death in September 1986 (the job would eventually go to Jason Newsted).
Despite releasing a string of acclaimed albums between 1983 and 1991, Armored Saint never truly climbed beyond the level of beloved cult band. They disbanded in 1992, after John Bush left to join Anthrax, another group who had been given their big break by Jonny Z.
“I was the one to call John for Anthrax,” the latter told Hammer. “Really, that was the great call. I called him and said, ‘Lightning doesn’t strike twice.’ And that became a reality.
Bush himself left Anthrax in 2005, having re-joined the reunited Armored Saint six years earlier. He finally got a chance to sing with Metallica at one of the latter’s 30th anniversary gigs in San Francisco in December 2011, performing The Four Horsemen and Seek And Destroy.
Asked in 2017 if he regretted turning down the chance to join Metallica all those years ago, he replied: “No, I never do. I don’t really believe that it was ever my destiny to be in Metallica. It’s as simple as that. I don’t believe that it was anybody’s destiny to be the voice of Metallica other than James. Talk about a guy who’s had incredible growth as a singer. He’s James Hetfield – enough said.”
