Megadeth’s longtime tenure as Thrash Metal stalwarts is coming to an end. If that’s tough news for fans to swallow, well, gather round. Founding frontman Dave Mustaine has shed some light on why he’s ending the band.
During a recent interview on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, the Megadeth frontman spoke about the band’s forthcoming final album and “This Was Our Life” tour. As for why he’s decided to put Megadeth to rest, Mustaine said that “physical” limitations are a major factor. “It had been a long time coming,” he said, just physical stuff that was going on with my hands.”
“My hands were letting me down,” he went on to explain. “And there were other things that were difficult because of all the stuff going on in my neck and my trunk. The entire area there has arthritis, and it has discs that are bulging.”
“I’ve got a broken lumbar bone,” he went on to say. “Of course, you know I have my back fused, up by my shoulders, by my neck. And just a lot of stuff.”
The heavy metal legend explained that he has always judged the band’s future by his own abilities. Now, the wear-and-tear is growing more noticeable. For this reason, he’s hanging up his guitar. In a manner of speaking.
“I always said when it got to the point where I was unable to give a hundred percent every night, that’s when I was gonna start considering winding down,” Mustaine clarified. “And it wasn’t that I was unable to give a hundred percent. Because we finished the record, and I think we did a good job on it.”
He went on to recall that “there was a period when we were working, and I said to my manager, ‘I don’t know how much longer I can do this. My hands are really hurting.’”
Dave Mustaine didn’t actually mean to herald the end of Megadeth
Even though he “didn’t mean to set the ball rolling” with those conversations, that’s where it landed. “Honestly, I just was making conversation, and it turned into me talking to the band guys and sleeping on it and talking to my family and praying on it,” he shared. “And the answer was clear to me that by the time we’re done with the record, I’m gonna know how the record’s gonna do.”
Finally, Mustaine offered some small hope to fans who are sad to see it all end. “If the record does really well, then I’ll be able to have one last really good tour,” he said. “And the part about the farewell thing, it’s kind of like the same thing, isn’t it? We’ve got some dates that we wanna play to say goodbye to our friends.”
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