Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine Says He Put His Metallica Feud To “Sleep” Years Ago

The fraught, decades‑long saga between Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine and his former bandmates in Metallica arguably began in the early 1980s, when Mustaine was fired from Metallica mid‑tour. His escalating behavior and struggles with substance abuse have since become the accepted explanation for why his time in the band came to such an abrupt end.

Over the years, the relationship between Mustaine and Metallica has swung between uneasy truces and outright hostility. A mid‑2010s row over the writing credits to Metallica’s early material reportedly cut off private communication with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich for good, adding yet another layer of bitterness to the storyline. Since then, Mustaine has occasionally lashed out at the band in interviews, feeding the public perception of an ongoing feud.

Now, with Megadeth on its farewell tour and Mustaine having revisited his history by covering Metallica’s “Ride The Lightning” on the band’s final studio album earlier this year, he is openly framing his actions as a way of “closing the circle.” Speaking to Ibagenscast just ahead of the track’s live debut, he doubled down on that sentiment and insisted that any lingering ill will is long gone. The full quote reads:

“…Going back to why we did [‘Ride The Lightning’] — it’s kind of closing the circle, paying my respects to the band that I was a founding member in. And love me or hate me, they’ll never be able to erase me. And I think that when people can look with acceptance and fondness of the two bands and not try and keep something that I don’t wanna keep going.

I don’t wanna have a feud. I’ve put that to sleep so many years ago. So, yeah, I wanted to do something that was — just show some respect, ’cause it doesn’t matter to me if he cares, if he likes it; it matters what I do and that I show respect and close the circle.”

Coming from the man who has spent much of his career defining himself in opposition to Metallica, the phrasing is a notable shift: framed less as a battle chant and more as a reflective farewell gesture. Whether or not Metallica gives the nod any official weight, Mustaine is choosing to treat the chapter as settled, even as Megadeth leans further into its own final run.

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