Metallica has paid tribute to the late Megaforce Records co-founder Jon Zazula as the band’s father figure, and the captain of the heavy music ship.
Zazula died Tuesday (Feb. 1) at the age of 69, passing a year after his wife and label co-founder Marsha Zazula.
“Heavy music lost one of its great champions today when Jonny Z left this world far too soon,” reads a social post signed by the four band members.
In 1982, the message continues, “when no one wanted to take a chance on four kids from California playing a crazy brand of metal, Jonny and Marsha did, and the rest, as they say, is history.”
Today, Metallica is arguably the most successful metal band of all time. They’re creators of the “most brutal, enduring rock & roll albums of the ’80s and ’90s,” reads the blurb accompanying their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2009.
But without the vision and graft of the Zazulas, the world could have entirely missed the Bay Area quartet.
Zazula was “a mentor, a manager, a label head and a father figure to us all . . . Metallica would not be who we are or where we are today without Jon Zazula and his wife, Marsha,” reads the statement.
In a separate tribute, drummer Lars Ulrich thanks Zazula “for taking a chance on these crazy, noisy, uncompromising and undisciplined dudes from NorCal who didn’t know what was up, down or sideways, but who were ready, willing and more than able to f—in throw it all to the wind and go for it.”
He continues, “Thank you for giving us a sense of belonging and ultimately, a sense of self-worth. I will forever be grateful for your friendship, advice and blind belief that the music we played could be shared with way more people who were just like us…outsiders and misfits!”
Frontman James Hetfield put his own thoughts down. “God rest your soul Jonny. My heart is full of gratitude for taking a chance on me and my bandmates,” he writes.
The Zazulas were the power behind the thrash-metal subgenre that exploded in the mid-to-early 1980s. Through Megaforce, the couple put out early records by pivotal bands including Anthrax, Testament, Overkill and Metallica, whose first two albums — triple-platinum Kill ‘Em All and six-times platinum Ride the Lightning — were released by the label in the first half of the decade.
[flexi-common-toolbar] [flexi-form class=”flexi_form_style” title=”Submit to Flexi” name=”my_form” ajax=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”post_title” class=”fl-input” title=”Title” value=”” required=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”category” title=”Select category”][flexi-form-tag type=”tag” title=”Insert tag”][flexi-form-tag type=”article” class=”fl-textarea” title=”Description” ][flexi-form-tag type=”file” title=”Select file” required=”true”][flexi-form-tag type=”submit” name=”submit” value=”Submit Now”] [/flexi-form]
Tagged: entertainment blog, Jon Zazula, Megaforce Records, music, music blog, Rock