THRASH metal giants Megadeth have revealed the band’s next tour and album will be their last.
Founded by Dave Mustaine in 1983 after the singer’s acrimonious departure from Metallica, the San Francisco band have consistently pumped out memorable riffs ever since.
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But the band will call it a day after the completion of their tour next year.
Mustaine said: “There’s so many musicians that have come to the end of their career, whether accidental or intentional.
“Most of them don’t get to go out on their own terms on top, and that’s where I’m at in my life right now. I have traveled the world and have made millions upon millions of fans and the hardest part of all of this is saying goodbye to them.”
He continued: “We can’t wait for you to hear this album and see us on tour. If there was ever a perfect time for us to put out a new album, it’s now.
“If there was ever a perfect time to tour the world, it’s now. This is also a perfect time for us to tell you that it’s our last studio album. We’ve made a lot of friends over the years and I hope to see all of you on our global farewell tour. Don’t be mad, don’t be sad, be happy for us all, come celebrate with me these next few years.
“We have done something together that’s truly wonderful and will probably never happen again,” he concludes. “We started a musical style, we started a revolution, we changed the guitar world and how it’s played, and we changed the world. The bands I played in have influenced the world. I love you all for it. Thank you for everything.”
Devastated fans can’t believe it.
One said: “Last MEGADETH album. I’m not ready to say goodbye… [crying emoji]”
Another wrote: “This made me feel so sad.”
A third said: “Farewell, kings. It’s been a great run!”
The band are best known for albums such as Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good!, Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying?, and Rust in Peace.
There has been a revolving door of members over the years with only Mustaine being ever-present. The current line up consists of Mustaine, James LoMenzo, Dirk Verbeuren and Teemu Mäntysaari.
Megadeth are synonymous with skeletal mascot Vic Rattlehead and have released 16 albums to date, the last of which – The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! – came out in 2022.
Over the course of their career they’ve been nominated for 12 Grammys, winning their first and only gong in 2017 for their track Dystopia, which triumphed in the Best Metal Performance category.
Mustaine, who overcame throat cancer in 2020, has had a long-standing rivalry with Metallica, for which he co-wrote early tracks such as Metal Militia, Phantom Lord, The Four Horsemen, Ride the Lightning, and The Call of Ktulu.
Brian Slagel, Metal Blade Records owner, previously said: “Dave was an incredibly talented guy, but he also had an incredibly large problem with alcohol and drugs. He’d get wasted and become a real crazy person, a raging megalomaniac, and the other guys just couldn’t deal with that after a while.
“I mean, they all drank of course, but Dave drank more… much more,” Slagel continues. “I could see they were beginning to get fed up of seeing Dave drunk out of his mind all the time.”
But in 2010, tensions softened and the so-called Big Four of thrash – Anthrax, Slayer, Metallica and Megadeth – played together on the same bill.
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