Former Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler has opened up about what it was like to take home a GRAMMY with Megadeth, rather than with the band he co-founded. Speaking on Chris Akin Presents…, Adler recalled how surreal it felt when Megadeth's Dystopia won Best Metal Performance at the 59th GRAMMY Awards in 2017.
"For Lamb of God, winning a GRAMMY was never something we aimed for," Adler admitted. "In fact, Randy [Blythe] boycotted it — he thought it was bullshit, and I understood that. The GRAMMYs often got it wrong. But there's still credibility in it, especially when you tell your parents, 'This is real.' For me, though, Megadeth getting it was special. They'd been nominated a dozen times, and in my mind, they deserved all twelve. To finally be part of that, it probably meant more than if Lamb had won."
Adler's connection to Megadeth runs far deeper than his 2015-2017 stint behind the kit. He vividly recalled discovering them as a 14-year-old skater trading cassette tapes: "Someone had put a Megadeth song on a punk mix, and I was like, 'Who is this?' That one song singularly put a point on my horizon. That was what I wanted to do with my life. Megadeth defined everything about what I wanted to be as a musician."
When Dave Mustaine invited him to join the making of Dystopia, Adler was already in Los Angeles recording drums for Lamb of God's VII: Sturm und Drang. "I got a call at five in the morning," Adler said. "Dave asked if I wanted to make a thrash record with him, and I was jumping up and down.
"I wanted to get him back on track after Super Collider. He flew me to Nashville, rented a house, and it was just the two of us for nearly three months. Basically Dave and I wrote that whole record together. I kept pushing for it to be heavier, and he appreciated that. The songs came out awesome — and clearly, it went on to do great things."
For Adler, who left Lamb of God in 2019, that GRAMMY wasn't just an industry nod — it was a lifelong dream realized. "Even when Lamb was nominated, I'd sit there hoping Megadeth won," he admitted. "To help them finally get one… that was everything."
