Dave Mustaine Says His Health Helped Prompt Megadeth’s Farewell: “My Hands Were Letting Me Down”

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has opened up further about the factors behind the band’s upcoming exit from the road. During a December 05th interview on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, the vocalist/guitarist explained that ongoing physical challenges — especially affecting his hands and spine — played a key role in deciding to wind down the legendary thrash outfit following their global farewell tour.

Mustaine announced earlier this year that the band’s upcoming self-titled album MEGADETH (arriving January 23rd) will serve as the foundation for one last run, marking the end of an era he first launched in 1983.

The 62-year-old has faced a long list of medical hurdles throughout his career. Radial neuropathy forced him to disband Megadeth back in 2002 when he temporarily lost proper use of his left hand. He has battled spinal stenosis for years, and his 2019 throat cancer diagnosis briefly sidelined his voice while touring.

In this latest conversation, Mustaine shared that age and lingering damage have made their presence known:

“It had been a long time coming — just physical stuff that was going on with my hands… My hands were letting me down. And there were other things that were difficult because of all the stuff going on in my neck and my trunk. All that area there has arthritis and it has discs that are bulging. I’ve got a broken lumbar bone. Of course, you know I have my back fused, up by my shoulders, by my neck. And just a lot of stuff.

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. 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, but there was a period when we were working and I said to my manager, I said, ‘I don’t know how much longer I can do this. My hands are really hurting.’

And I didn’t mean to set the ball rolling. 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. 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. If the record does really well, then I’ll be able to have one last really good tour. 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.

The thing is we’re an American band, but we play everywhere. So it’s not like we just are weekend warriors, like country acts here in the States. We’ve got a lot of touring to do in order to do our farewell properly.”

Mustaine has previously estimated that the final touring cycle could stretch between three and five years — long enough to reach every corner of the globe, without turning into a never-ending farewell. As he emphasized, he has no intention of dragging Megadeth across a finish line they’re no longer physically able to cross:

“I don’t think there’s any reason [for us] to [keep playing when we are not able to deliver a hundred percent.] I mean, unless you’re financially in a bad way and you need to keep playing, which, by the grace of God, I’ve been successful. I’ve been able to pay all my bills. All the band guys, they all get their paychecks on time. We do everything right by the book. So, some people, like I said, they may have to keep playing, because there’s nothing else for them to do.

Now, when I think about, what am I gonna do after I hang the guitar up, that’s in relation to touring, and I believe that I’m going to keep doing music in some way, shape or form. But not in the fashion that I was doing with MEGS because if I can’t do it and I need to stop playing with my first love, I’m not gonna go out and try and do it again with someone else.”

[Via Blabbermouth]

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