Dave Mustaine: Kirk Hammett and I Made Peace

The animosity between Metallica and Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has been one of the most legendary feuds in heavy metal history. Mustaine was kicked out of Metallica in 1983 due to his struggles with alcohol, drugs and frequent clashes with band members, some of which resulted in violence. He has remained bitter about the split ever since, famously documented in the 2004 Metallica documentary, 'Some Kind of Monster.' However, after 28 years of tension between the two bands, Mustaine may have finally buried the hatchet with his Metallica replacement, guitarist Kirk Hammett.

Metallica and Megadeth have played a handful of live shows together during a number of dates showcasing thrash's 'Big 4.' The two bands have even shared the stage together to play Diamond Head's "Am I Evil?" Despite touring together, Mustaine and Metallica seemed to keep each other at an arm's length, until Hammett extended the olive branch by offering Mustaine the lead in another live collaboration.

Mustaine spoke about the gesture with Artisan News, stating, "When we played ‘Helpless’ [Diamond Head cover] one night, I walked over to say hello to Kirk on the stage and he said, ‘Do you wanna take the solo?” and I said, ‘Yeah.’ [Laughs] But we forgot to tell anybody on the stage or the sound out front that I was gonna do the solo so … the song’s playing along and Kirk’s playing rhythm full blast, and I’m sitting there going [shreds air guitar] … you can’t hear what I’m doing. At least we knew what had happened. It was kind of a symbolic passing of the torch back to me and it was a nice gesture. I think that that helped Kirk and my relationship improve a bit.”

Yesterday (Sept. 13), the Megadeth frontman celebrated his 50th birthday, which we commemorated with a list of 10 Things You Didn't Know About Dave Mustaine. Tonight (Sept. 14), Megadeth and Metallica are set to share the stage once again at Yankee Stadium as a part of the New York City 'Big 4' concert.

Watch Dave Mustaine Talk About His Relationship With Kirk Hammett