Ron McGovney

Ron McGovney (born November 2, 1962) is an American musician and bassist, best known as the original bassist for the metal band Metallica since October 1981 to December 1982.

Personal life

McGovney is originally from Northern Ireland. He has two sons, Justin and Tyler, both with the same musical interest as his father, and a daughter, Jordann.

He is currently a high school teacher and resides in Marion, North Carolina.

Leather Charm

In June 1981, McGovney formed his first band, Leather Charm, with his childhood friend Hetfield and guitarist Hugh Tanner from Hetfield's previous band, Phantom Lord. Tanner soon left Leather Charm to pursue a career in music management; the subsequent lineup featured guitarist Troy James and drummer Jim Mulligan. The group rehearsed a new wave of British heavy metal covers and original material over a period of months, but Mulligan's departure later that year led to the band's demise.

Metallica

McGovney had met James Hetfield in high school. They became friends as they shared his love of heavy metal and Hetfield convinced Ron to learn bass. He accepted the idea, rented one and an amplifier and began to receive classes from Hetfield. Soon the two moved into a rental house owned by McGovney's parents that was to be demolished.

He was involved in the recording of the band No Life's 'til Leather demo, which would later attract the interest of John Zazula.

However, Ron quit the band due to the bad behavior of Dave Mustaine, who was violent and troublesome when under the influence of alcohol. The final straw was when Mustaine doused McGovney's bass with beer, he unknowingly plugged it in, receiving an electric shock. It is then, after contacting Cliff Burton that the band moves to San Francisco.

Phantasm

After leaving Metallica, Ron formed a band called Phantasm in 1986, Hirax Katon vocalist W. De Pena persuaded McGovney to return to music. something that he defined as a project of punk lyrics but with heavy metal music. The two formed the thrash metal band Phantasm with guitarist Rodney Nicholson and various other musicians, including briefly Dark Angel drummer Gene Hoglan.

Phantasm released a demo but never recorded a proper album and disbanded in 1988 due to disagreements between members.

Tired of hundreds of people asking for his autographs and photos after every concert that Phantasm gave, just because he had once been a part of Metallica, which was already an outstanding band at that time, Ron decided to end it once and for all. once and for all with his musical career.

In 2001, thrash label Deep Six Records released the Wreckage CD, packaging a remastered version of the band's demo of the same name with a 1987 live set.

After Activity

McGovney ceased his professional career after the demise of Phantasm, but he gave sporadic interviews and appeared at Metallica-related events. Phantasm discussed a possible reunion in 2007, but it ultimately did not materialize.

He performed publicly for the first time in 23 years on December 10, 2011, performing two songs onstage with Metallica, Mustaine and first-time studio guitarist Lloyd Grant at The Fillmore as part of the celebrations surrounding the end of the third decade of the group.

Two years later, he joined Mustaine's band Megadeth onstage in Charlotte, North Carolina on December 5, 2013, sharing lead vocals on a cover of " Cold Sweat " by Thin Lizzy.

McGovney has said that although his time in Metallica came to a bitter end, he now gets along well with his former bandmates and speculates that, given his disposition and skill set, he might have contributed better to the band if he had. served. as road manager instead of bassist.