A December 05th appearance on SiriusXM‘s ‘Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk‘ found Megadeth‘s vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine elaborate further on the decision to call it quits following the completion of the band’s upcoming global farewell tour. This past August saw Mustaine announce the band’s upcoming end, with the legendary thrash metal group set to hang it up following a lengthy touring cycle supporting their new self-titled album (due out January 23rd.)
No stranger to injury and complications from them, Mustaine has revealed in the aforementioned discussion that his age and the lingering side effects of his past health struggles have begun catching up with him.
Mustaine has certainly been through it over the years. He had previously been forced to disband the group back in April of 2002, after suffering a bout of radial neuropathy that left him unable to properly use his left hand for months. His issues with spinal stenosis have also caused him continued issues, while his 2019 bout with throat cancer affected his live performances as well.
Speaking in this latest interview, Mustaine said of where he’s at physically now:
“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 himself has stated to the press that he expects this forthcoming final tour to run roughly 3 to 5 years. While that may sound like the trek is heading into KISS territory, Mustaine asserted that he doesn’t plan to draw things out past his own proverbial expiry date.
“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.net]
