Dave Mustaine revealed Megadeth was very close to not performing at the monumental Big 4 show in NYC back in 2011, and only did it because Metallica manager Peter Mensch allegedly called him “a p*ssy.”
Dave explained to Jamey Jasta (as transcribed by Ultimate-Guitar.com):
“When I did the Big 4 concert at the Yankee Staduim, I had my neck in a neck brace riding on a golf cart to the stage. I had the tape all over the stage that said ‘Don’t headbang.’
“I would have died if I headbanged that night because I was in an emergency surgery room two days before, ready to have my neck operated on.
“And I called up my manager at the time, Mark Adelman, and I said, ‘Look, I played with Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer before, I’ve played New York before, I’ve played a baseball stadium before, so none of this is new to me and I have to cancel because I need emergency surgery.’
“So, allegedly, Adelman tells this to Metallica’s management, whatever the guy with the name of a p*nis, whatever his name is… it was Dick or Peter or something… Peter!
“So he said I was a p*ssy. So I went, ‘Okay, wrap me up, I’m going to New York.’ They gave me a bunch of injections in my neck and put me in a neck brace and I flew out and played the concert and I came back.
“Who’s the real p*ssy now?”
Mustaine added:
“Both James [Hetfield] and Tom [Araya] have had the same surgery that I have.
“[My] neck is OK [now]. The range of motion – because you have a plate in there at the bones that were fused together has lost mobility – so consequently the joint above and below are taking more work than necessary so I have to be careful.
“Because I have arthritis degenerative disc disease and stenosis in my neck besides the fact that I had that fusion done. It’s almost 40 years of headbanging, it’s gonna do something to you.”
