James Hetfield on the Possibilty of a Metallica/Megadeth Supergroup

Metal fans hoping for a possible recorded collaboration between members of Metallica and Megadeth can keep on hoping, because James Hetfield says it'll never happen.

A little backstory. Earlier this year, Megadeth's Dave Mustaine told Minneapolis radio station 93X that idea of a possible supergroup featuring Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich and Megadeth bassist David Ellefson "was just me talking. I don't think [James and Lars are] interested in doing that. It would be cool, and I've mentioned it to them before. I just think that they're so busy that they don't have time to do something like that."

He continued, intimating that it's something he'd love to do but doesn't seem likely. "My wife and James' wife are friends, and they talk a lot," he said. "From what I know, too, there's a lot of work that those guys do, and they're gone a lot, and they tour a lot, so for them to take on a project like that, I think it would have to really be a labor of love. Of course, David and I would do it, 'cause I think it would be great to play with them again."

The guitarist affirmed the overall health of Megadeth, saying that the band is "doing really fine right now. I'm not in the place to be asking for favors from anybody. I like who I am right now, I'm satisfied with where my career's at. But don't kid yourself, if we got together and played, I imagine it would be really cool. It wouldn't be anything like Megadeth, of course, and it wouldn't be anything like Metallica. But we'll see what happens. Maybe with enough people asking them, they'll buckle."

However, Hetfield shot down the idea of any sort of collaborative efforts in the special edition of So What! He spoke about how his band learned to embrace as opposed to erase its history by inviting past members to be a part of their HOF and anniversary celebrations. He said, "We learned a lot from the Rock and Roll Hall ff Fame about maturity and grace, as far as previous members and things like that specially after watching other bands get up there and bicker about stupid things. They didn't get the big picture.

"Excuse me, but there's a lot of people out there that enjoyed that lineup, or a lot of people grew up with that lineup, and why are you not celebrating that? Why are you not embracing that as part of your history? And it's sad and it's selfish. And because we were able to have Dave onstage [at the Fillmore] and Jason [Newsted] and Bob [Rock] and all these other people that were part of our history, we were able to rise above the bickering and celebrate it."

Despite that acceptance of former members in there and now, he did address the musings of a collaboration, only to shoot it down. He said, "I think especially with Dave, with all of his struggles. I see him healthier now. I see him as less of a bitter guy. But I do see a lot of stuff in the press with him talking about jamming with us and making an album. All this other crazy stuff. I read it and say to myself, 'Hold on. This is the Dave that we kind of wanted to forget about. You know, the big-mouth that wants to just go-go-go.' But there is an authenticity about him when he speaks. He doesn't think too much before he does. He just goes off the cuff. Plus, when he says stuff like that, it's well-intended."