Sunday night (Nov. 7), Metallica took to the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood in Florida to pay tribute to Megaforce Records founder Jon “Jonny Z” Zazula and his wife Marsha.
Videos by American Songwriter
Having been signed to the label in the early ’80s, the group brought out a number of album cuts from Kill ‘Em All and Ride The Lightening – their first two efforts. Among the rare tracks were “Fight Fire With Fire,” “For Whom The Bells Toll,” “Call of the Ktulu” and “No Remorse.”
Raven, who toured with the group during their Megaforce days, joined Metallica as their opening act. Find clips below.
Upon announcing the show back in September, the band wrote on Instagram, “Jonny gave us our first break in New York, released our first albums on his @MegaforceRecords label, and put us out on the road for our first real tour. With Marsha by his side, Jonny was a mentor, a manager, a label head, and a father figure to us all…. we would not be where we are today without the two of them. Sadly, we recently lost both Jonny and Marsha, just a little more than a year apart.”
For decades, Jonny and Marsha Zazula were a force within the metal scene. The couple founded Megaforce in 1982 with bands like Metallica, Anthrax, Overkill, and many other genre trailblazers. For their landmark third record Master of Puppets, Metallica moved over to Elektra records in 1986.
In other Metallica news, the group recently announced that their career and catalog would be the subject of a new graphic novel series. Lars Ulrich said of the partnership with Headshell, “The team at Vault are pushing boundaries and are bold storytellers. We are excited to partner with them.”
The release date for the graphic novels will be announced in the coming months.
Photo: Anton Corbijn / Nasty Little Man
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