Having previously played with guitarist James Hetfield in the garage band Leather Charm, McGovney was a member of Metallica during its first year of gigging and appeared on their early demos before departing late in 1982.
The group rehearsed a set of New Wave of British Heavy Metal covers and original material for a period of months, but Mulligan's departure later that year led to the band's demise.
After their debut performance on March 14, the band spent 1982 rehearsing in McGovney's parents' long-since-demolished rental property near the 605 freeway and building a local following in the Los Angeles and Orange County heavy metal scenes.
[citation needed] He performed publicly for the first time in 23 years on December 10, 2011, playing two songs ("Hit the Lights" and "Seek & Destroy") onstage with Metallica, Mustaine, and early studio guitarist Lloyd Grant, among others, at The Fillmore as a part of the celebrations surrounding the end of the group's third decade.
[5] Two years later, he joined Mustaine's band Megadeth onstage in Charlotte, North Carolina, on December 5, 2013, sharing the lead vocal on a cover version of Thin Lizzy's "Cold Sweat".