“I could have ruined metal”: The man who almost sang for Metallica has no regrets

Armored Saint and ex-Anthrax vocalist John Bush says he “could have ruined metal” had he accepted an offer to sing for Metallica in the early 80s.

In a new interview with Get On The Bus, Bush reflects on being offered to join Metallica by their then-manager Jon “Jonny Z” Zazula around the release of 1983 debut album Kill ’Em All.

The singer says that it wasn’t his “destiny” to helm the San Francisco megastars, citing the pressure of taking on the role.

“It was an honour to be asked to sing in Metallica,” he remembers (via Guitar.com). “It just was not my fate.”

He later adds: “I could have ruined metal. That’s just too much, man – that’s too much pressure. It just wasn’t my fate. And I could never imagine anybody singing those songs other than [singer/guitarist] James Hetfield. That would’ve been a big loss for heavy metal.”

Though Bush never joined Metallica, he enjoyed a successful career in metal in his own right. He’s been the frontman of traditional metal band Armored Saint since 1982 and sang for New York thrash metal heroes Anthrax from 1992 to 2005, then again from 2009 to 2010.

Plus, in 2011, he was invited onstage during one of Metallica’s 30th-anniversary concerts in San Francisco, where he sang the Kill ’Em All track The Four Horsemen.

Bush reflects on the performance in the new interview: “They told the story about how, ‘We were gonna maybe get this guy, but it didn’t happen… this is what it would sound like if he did join.’ That was a really special moment in my life.”

Bush and Zazula spoke to Metal Hammer in 2017 about the circumstances that almost led to Metallica’s change in frontman. Zazula explained: “I liked James, but no one knew his power at the time. He was Metallica’s singer, but they had ideas of going further with a lead singer.”

Bush added: “It was in their early stages. 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.”

Armored Saint released latest album Punching The Sky via Metal Blade in 2020. The band will play three UK dates with W.A.S.P. in September before playing across North America in October.

Metallica will headline a stadium tour of Europe next summer.