KERRY KING On His Time In MEGADETH: 'If DAVE MUSTAINE And I Could Have Co-Existed, It Would Have Been A Very Different Band'

In a new question-and-answer session with readers of U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine, SLAYER guitarist Kerry King was asked whom he would pick if he could have been in any other band. Kerry responded: "I was almost in MEGADETH. I think if myself and [MEGADETH leader] Dave Mustaine could have co-existed for four years, it would have been a very different band. I'm not saying I'd have made them better – I'd have made them different.

"It's funny. I was backstage at MERCYFUL FATE's show in Las Vegas and got talking to [guitarist] Hank Shermann, and said to him, 'I thought you guys might come knocking', and you could see his head explode," he continued. "'It never fucking occurred to me!' I'm a huge MERCYFUL FATE fan so I'd have done that in a heartbeat.

"I'd also love to play with JUDAS PRIEST. That brief second where Richie [Faulkner] got sick and they suggested going out with one player, I thought if they called me and said, 'Can you be that one guitarist?', I honestly don't think I could, because they're such a dual guitar band. Thankfully they never did it, but if they'd have asked, I think it would have been the hardest 'no' of my life."

Kerry previously talked about his brief involvement with MEGADETH during the band's early days — King played MEGADETH's first five shows as the band's second guitarist) — in a 2015 interview with Loudwire's "Wikipedia: Fact Or Fiction?" signature series. Kerry said at the time: "I was one of the lucky people — and there's certainly no offense against [current METALLICA guitarist] Kirk Hammett; Kirk's a wonderful friend of mine — but I was lucky enough to see METALLICA with Mustaine. And I say that because it's just a rare thing to be able to say that. I saw them play with Woodstock [in Los Angeles], and I was so intringued by Mustaine, because he was just ripping on guitar and looking out that way somewhere. And I can't do that to this fuckin day. So I was just blown away at his guitar playing. And to find out — I think it was through B.C. Rich, 'cause we all played B.C. Rich back then… I think it was through B.C. Rich I found out that Dave was inquiring if I would play [with MEGADETH]."

He continued: "At the end of the day, I thought, 'This is a gigantic learning situation.' And I also thought people would see me and know me from SLAYER. 'Cause, I mean, we only went to the Bay Area; we only got up there. So I think if people saw me, it would at least make 'em think, 'SLAYER.' So I had SLAYER's best intentions in mind. I didn't go and say, 'Hey, I wanna be in MEGADETH.' I don't know how anybody can be in MEGADETH for more than a couple of hours, 'cause that guy's crazy."

Asked if he had any particularly bad experiences dealing with Mustaine in the early days of MEGADETH, Kerry said: "He was cooler back then. I think there's been a lot of drugs and funny extracurriculars between now and then that helped shape who he is today. But it was good times back then. Playing all the venues SLAYER played and just… I don't know… playing different music. His stuff is definitely more… I wouldn't say 'intricate,' 'cause we've got intricate parts too, but it's just… He writes riffs in a very different perspective than I… Even after playing with him for a number of months, I'd still… I wouldn't do it; it's just not my style."

More recently, King joined MEGADETH on stage in October 2010 at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, California to perform MEGADETH's classic "Rattlehead". You can see video of that performance below.