Dave Mustaine has opened up further about the health battle pushing Megadeth toward retirement, while also reflecting on the early chemistry he shared with Metallica frontman James Hetfield during the band’s formative years.
Speaking with Chile’s La Tercera, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine revealed his ongoing struggle with Dupuytren’s contracture, a progressive hand condition that’s beginning to seriously affect his ability to play guitar.
‘I have an injury to my hand here… And it’s gonna get worse so that it eventually pulls my finger like this, and I won’t be able to play like that,’ Mustaine explained (per Blabbermouth).
The condition, sometimes nicknamed ‘Viking Disease’, causes tissue beneath the skin to tighten over time, eventually forcing fingers into a bent position, for someone whose entire career has been built around surgical thrash riffing, it’s a brutal reality to face.
Mustaine admitted he’s considered stepping back from guitar duties and continuing solely as Megadeth’s vocalist, but says it wouldn’t feel right.
‘I’ve thought about having somebody else play guitar and me just sing in Megadeth, but I would never be happy. I think part of the magic is me playing guitar.’
The conversation also turned toward Megadeth’s recently released version of Metallica’s ‘Ride The Lightning’, which appears on the band’s final self-titled album ‘Megadeth’, Mustaine co-wrote the original 1984 track before being fired from Metallica in 1983, and he says revisiting it decades later felt deeply personal.
‘Of course, I wrote that with James. So, it’s mine,’ he said.
While Mustaine insists he wasn’t concerned with how Metallica reacted to the cover, he did take a moment to acknowledge the creative spark he and Hetfield once shared.
‘It just shows you how talented a guitar player that James and I were. And we made a really good team.’
It’s the kind of statement that lands differently now, decades after one of heavy music’s most infamous breakups, Mustaine sounds less interested in reopening old wounds and more reflective about the strange legacy both bands built from the fallout.
Megadeth On Tour
Megadeth’s farewell run is currently underway across Latin America, with Mustaine describing the experience as ‘bittersweet’ as the end of the band slowly comes into focus, they hit our shores this November with Iron Maiden.
Catch Megadeth live in Australia with Iron Maiden this November:
- Wednesday, November 11th – Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
- Friday, November 13th – AAMI Park, Melbourne
- Sunday, November 15th – Allianz Stadium, Sydney
- Wednesday, November 18th – Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
- Thursday, November 19th – Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
Find out more and grab your tickets here.
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