DAVE MUSTAINE Doesn't Rule Out Making Solo Album After Completion Of MEGADETH's Farewell Tour

In a new interview with Poland's Teraz Rock, MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine spoke about the possibility of making a solo album following the completion of the band's farewell tour. After the interviewer noted that Mustaine had previously contemplated recording a solo LP more than two decades ago, Mustaine said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think it was 'The System…' Was it [MEGADETH's 2004 album] 'The System Has Failed'? Yeah. That was the one that I'd injured my arm and I contacted the band guys and said, 'I can't play anymore. And I need to break up the band.' So some time went by and my arm started to heal, and my godfather Alice Cooper contacted me and asked if I would do a benefit for somebody that worked for him and that also worked for me, who had just died and left his wife and a daughter with nothing. So, I hadn't touched a guitar for 17 months — not even pick it up and set it down. I just didn't touch it. And so I said, 'Look, I can barely play guitar right now. And I'll come and I'll do something, but it's not gonna be great.' So I went and we played and somehow the pilot light was reignited and the fire inside of me started burning again and I wanted to play. And when I called up Marty [Friedman, former MEGADETH guitarist] and Nick [Menza, former MEGADETH drummer] and David [Ellefson, former MEGADETH bassist] and talked to them, it was non-negotiable. We were not meant to get back together again. And I'll leave all the nasty details out, but that's when I went into the studio with some other people — [drummer] Vinnie Colaiuta, who is amazing, and this guy named Jimmie Sloas who played bass on the record, and he was really good too."

Circling back to whether he would consider recording a solo album in the future, Mustaine said: "I might. I don't think so. I might. I might. Right now, things are going so great for us, we're not even really thinking about the end. We're thinking about the beginning of this, this campaign [in support of MEGADETH's just-released self-titled album], and heading out and, and showing this [new] music to our fans. And we've been looking at the tours that we've got on our schedule, and everything's doing really well ticket-wise. Dates are selling out way in advance, and that's good for us too because in many of the places that we booked, we've had to go to a different configuration. Some places will be set up for, say, for example, 7,000 seats and they've got some seats up in the top that they've blocked off. And a band comes in and they keep selling tickets, they'll open up those areas. 'Cause a lot of times they don't open those areas up because it looks bad for bands that don't sell out the venue. And we've had a lot of concerts already that has — it's gone to a bigger-size venue."

"Megadeth" was released on January 23, 2026. The follow-up to 2022's "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" was made available via Mustaine's Tradecraft imprint on Frontiers Label Group's new BLKIIBLK label.

Earlier this month, Mustaine was asked during a question-and-answer session from Nashville, Tennessee with SiriusXM radio personality Jose Mangin how long MEGADETH's "farewell" tour might last. Mustaine brought up his ongoing battle with Dupuytren contracture, a condition that causes one or more fingers to bend toward the palm of the hand, and said: "I don't know, honestly, because the condition of my hand is, right now I can still play, but it's progressing. So, I don't know about that part. As far as us being willing to play, I'll play as long as I can, and I hope it's a while.

"The crazy thing [is] I've been thinking about what would I do if we had a tour booked and I just couldn't play anymore and I had to ask somebody to play for me, what that would be like," he continued. "And I didn't like the idea. It's not me. And I'm gonna play until the last second, and when I can't, that's when I'm gonna stop."

Asked if MEGADETH fans can expect to get an updated version of his "Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir" autobiography, Dave said: "We've had another book that came out ['Rust In Peace: The Inside Story Of The Megadeth Masterpiece'], which was about the making of 'Rust In Peace', which was something a lot of people had come up to me and asked me about that record in particular because it is a pivotal record for the metal community. And I'm happy to have been part of it, and if I wasn't part of it, I would be a huge fan of it. [But that book was] not really an addition on my memoir; it was just a isolated period that I went into more depth. And now I do have something that I finished and we turned it in and the publishers are very happy with how it is right now. It's called 'In My Darkest Hour', and it's about my cancer treatment [after I was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma at the back of my tongue in 2019] and what it was like and how much I drew strength from you [the fans]. We were in the middle of making [MEGADETH's last album] 'The Sick, The Dying…And The Dead!' at the same time, so how difficult that was for me and how much strength and support I got from the band and the other people that were part of the team. So, that's gonna be coming out soon.

"So far, my first two books were bestsellers," Mustaine continued. "I mean, I don't really care about having to sell and get numbers. I just wanna be able to have that story get out there and help people that may be afraid, they may get a diagnosis and think, 'Fuck, I'm gonna die.' 'Cause that's kind of what I thought. And then a few minutes later I thought to myself, 'I'm fucking Dave Mustaine.' And I tackled it like everything else that I do, and I wanna be able to share my experience, strength and help with any of you that ever gets sick and need someone."

As for a possible release date for the "In My Darkest Hour" book, Mustaine said: "I don't know when it's is coming out, but all the clearances are done now, and I just saw the cover on it and I kind of liked it, but I'm not sure yet. So that's one of the last things. And then it's gonna run through the attorneys, and then the attorneys look at it and go, 'You can't say that, because that's an invasion of privacy.' [And I say], 'But I've talked about that for 40 years.' [And they respond], 'Well, we're attorneys and we've gotta come up with a reason to take your money.'"

"In My Darkest Hour" is tentatively due in September 2027 via Grand Central Publishing's recently launched Da Capo imprint.

"In My Darkest Hour" is being co-written by The New York Times journalist Joe Layden, who previously worked with Mustaine on his "Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir" autobiography and on original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's "No Regrets: A Rock 'N' Roll Memoir". Layden also authored "The Last Great Fight" about what is considered by many to be the biggest upset in the history of boxing: James "Buster" Douglas's tenth-round knockout win over Mike Tyson in 1990.

"Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir", which came out in August 2010, landed at position No. 15 on The New York Times "Hardcover Nonfiction" best sellers list. The book was released in the U.S. via HarperCollins's It Books imprint (focusing on pop culture, sports, style and content derived from the Internet). The U.K. edition, "Mustaine: A Life In Metal", hit bookstores in the U.K. in September 2010.

In September 2020, Mustaine released his second book, "Rust In Peace: The Inside Story Of The Megadeth Masterpiece" (formerly "Building The Perfect Beast"),via Hachette Books. "Rust In Peace: The Inside Story Of The Megadeth Masterpiece" detailed the making of MEGADETH's iconic "Rust In Peace" album, which was released in 1990.

The now-64-year-old MEGADETH guitarist/vocalist revealed his cancer battle in June 2019 on social media, saying the doctors had given him a 90 percent chance of beating the illness.

Dave later said that he beat cancer after 51 radiation treatments and nine chemotherapy sessions. He returned to the stage in early 2020 — weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic derailed touring for months.

In 2014, five years before his cancer diagnosis, Mustaine and his family relocated to Tennessee, in part, because his daughter Electra wanted to pursue a singing career. Electra now helps run the visionary wine brand House Of Mustaine which uniquely blends music, culture, and fine winemaking.

In December, Mustaine told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about why "Megadeth" will be the band's final album and why he decided to embark on a "farewell" tour at this point of his career: "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."

Mustaine continued: "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."

Dave added: "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."

In November, Mustaine told Kerrang! magazine that MEGADETH's farewell run of shows could last a long time. "We're easily talking about touring for another three to five years," Dave said. "And if we're going to be doing it for that long then, shit, I'll be looking at the birthday I don't even want to think about," he added, referencing the fact that he will turn 70 in 2031.

Photo credit: Ryan Chang