Metallica to be two-bassist band at Hall of Fame

Reuters, Apr 1, 2009 8:00 pm PDT
It seems that Metallica will be a two-bassist band at Saturday's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland.

A day after former bassist Jason Newsted told Billboard.com that his replacement, Robert Trujillo, would not take part in the performance part of the induction, a spokesman for the group's Warner Bros. label clarified that "Jason and Robert will both be playing Metallica's induction songs." He did not indicate what the songs would be or if Newsted and Trujillo would be on stage together or separately.

Metallica is flying in from Paris, where the group plays Wednesday and Thursday nights, with plans to rehearse with Newsted at sound check on Friday.

Earlier this week, Newsted -- who was Metallica's bassist from 1986-2001 -- said that when Lars Ulrich called to invite him to play at the ceremony, the drummer told him that "Robert's not gonna play at all...He wants to be there as a fan, too, and wants to see the 'black' album (1991's 'Metallica') band." Newsted added that he never expected to play in the first place and was "totally on board" with the idea of the current version of Metallica performing without him.

"I felt strongly they should go as that band and represent because...they're strong right now together," Newsted said. "There was no negativity, no hubbub or jealousy or silly, childish...It was years ago, man. We're just gonna have a...great celebration."

Metallica's fellow inductees on Saturday include by Run-DMC, Jeff Beck, Little Anthony & the Imperials and Bobby Womack in this year's Hall of Fame class. Wanda Jackson is being inducted as an Early Influence, while Sidemen inductees include Bill Black, DJ Fontana and Spooner Oldham. The ceremony will be broadcast live at 8 p.m. Saturday on FUSE Television Network.

(Editing by Dean Goodman at Reuters)

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