Jason Newsted

Jason Newsted
Jason Newsted
	Newsted at Rock am Ring 2013.
Background information
Birth name	Jason Curtis Newsted
Also known as	Jasonic, Jason "Newkid"
Born	March 4, 1963 (age 56); Battle Creek, Michigan
Genres	Heavy metal, thrash metal, speed metal, progressive metal, hard rock, alternative metal
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Bass guitar, vocals, guitar
Years active	1981–2014, 2016–present
Labels	Metal Blade, Elektra, Chophouse, The End, Surfdog
Associated acts	Metallica, Flotsam and Jetsam, Papa Wheelie, Voivod, Echobrain, Rock Star Supernova, Ozzy Osbourne, Spastik Children, WhoCares, Gov't Mule, Newsted, newstedheavymetal.com

Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963) is an American metal musician, known for being the bass guitarist with the band Metallica from October 1986 until his sudden departure in January 2001.

Before Metallica, he was a member of Flotsam and Jetsam. After Metallica, has been involved with Echobrain, Ozzy Osbourne, Voivod, and led the band Newsted from 2012 to 2014. With Voivod, he used the pseudonym Jasonic, which is also the name of his music publishing company. He is also the founder of the Chophouse Records studio and label based in California. Newsted lives in Walnut Creek, California.^[1]

Early life

Jason Curtis Newsted was born in Battle Creek, Michigan. He has two older brothers and a younger sister.^[2] He grew up on a farm and at the age of six was given the responsibility of looking after animals. He was tasked with looking after hundreds of chickens and rabbits. He told author Paul Stenning, "It's where I learned about life – seeing a baby cow born right in front of your eyes when you're eight years old is pretty intense…I was from a very strong family and I was raised to be a strong, pure Americana farm boy."^[3]

Newsted's mother taught piano and one of his brothers plays trumpet. He was exposed to music as a child, listening to the record collections of his older brothers. His first instrument was a guitar, which he started to play at 9 years old, but he moved to bass at 14,^[4] after listening to Gene Simmons of Kiss.^[5] Newsted cites Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath as his major influence.^[6] He lists Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, Peter Baltes of Accept, Geddy Lee of Rush, Rob Grange of Ted Nugent and Bill Church of Montrose as other significant influences.^[4]^[6]