Jason Newsted

Jason Curtis Newsted was born on March 4, 1963 in Battle Creek, Michigan. He has two older brothers and a younger sister. He grew up on a farm and at the age of six was given the responsibility of looking after animals. He was tasked with looking after hundreds of chickens and rabbits. He told author Paul Stenning, "It's where I learned about life – seeing a baby cow born right in front of your eyes when you're eight years old is pretty intense…I was from a very strong family and I was raised to be a strong, pure Americana farm boy." Newsted's mother taught piano and one of his brothers plays trumpet. He was exposed to music as a child, listening to the record collections of his older brothers. His first instrument was a guitar, which he started to play at 9 years old, but he moved to bass at 14, after listening to Gene Simmons of Kiss. Newsted dropped out of high school at age 18 and joined 'Gangster' a local metal band before the group decided to relocate to California. Newsted cites Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath as his major influence. He lists Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, Peter Baltes of Accept, Geddy Lee of Rush, Rob Grange of Ted Nugent, and Bill Church of Montrose as other significant influences.

Newsted was married in 1988 to Judy Talbert but the couple divorced in 1991 during the recordings of the Black Album. He is currently married to his longtime girlfriend Nicole Leigh Smith, whom he wed in October 2012. Nicole, an artist, encouraged him to try painting. Newsted has no children.