10 Musicians Who Left Major Bands

The 90's had certainly been a landmark decade for Metallica. The group had conquered the rock world with their self-titled Black Album in 1991, while going on a never-ending for the next few years after that. Even if the follow-ups Load and Reload were a bit lackluster by comparison, the metal army still had allegiance to the thrash-metal giants.

Once the band were coming off of their boldly ambitious S&M concerts with a symphony orchestra, bassist Jason Newsted announced he was leaving the band. While at first attributing it to the years of onstage physical strain, the documentary Some Kind of Monster told a different story.

When the band started to go into their next album, Newsted was told by James Hetfield that he couldn't partake in any side projects while working with Metallica. Given Newsted's dedication to his craft, the idea of not being able to play music outside of the confines of his metal brethren became extremely frustrating. Although a group therapist was eventually brought in to alleviate the tension, Newsted had already announced his resignation and began work on a new project with his band Echobrain. Though the air between Metallica is clearer now, it cost them one of their greatest musical assets,.