James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett shared memories of their early career with Megaforce Records founder Jon ‘Jonny Z’ Zazula and his wife Marsha during a recent episode of ‘The Metallica Report.’
After deciding to dismiss their lead guitarist, Dave Mustaine, the band went all the way to Old Bridge, New Jersey, to work with the Zazulas, who approved the decision to change the lineup.
“We’d never met [Jonny], never seen him—nothing,” Hetfield recalled. “And we hop in this U-Haul and go out. And I remember when we pulled up to his house eventually, one of the first things we had to tell him was, ‘Hey, we’re here and we’re getting rid of our lead guitar player [Dave Mustaine].’ He’s, like, ‘Okay. Well, let’s keep going.’ We shared the same vision. So, it felt absolutely right at the time.”
Ulrich noted that the Zazulas helped them a lot both musically and personally. The couple even found a place for Metallica to stay as they had no place to go at the time.
“What set the Zazulas apart was that they were extremely passionate. They were metalheads. They loved metal,” the frontman continued. “They had worked with Anvil. They had done a few things with Venom and Raven. Yeah, they had other bands they were working with, but we felt we were cared for by them.”
“They were representing Metallica well. Most other management companies, they had a whole roster of bands and you kind of had to [go], ‘Hello, can we get some tour support?’ or ‘Help us.’ It was one-on-one with us.”
Megaforce Records greatly contributed to Metallica’s rise, releasing their debut albums, ‘Kill ‘Em All’ in 1983 and ‘Ride The Lightning’ in 1984, before they secured a major label contract with Elektra.
Jonny Z passed away in February 2022, at the age of 69 from complications of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and osteopenia. Marsha Zazula died the previous year from cancer.
The band honored Jon and Marsha with a special performance on November 6, 2022, at the Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, playing tracks from their first two records.
Earnings from the concert went to MusiCares in the Zazulas’ names to help musicians and industry professionals in need.