DAVE MUSTAINE: 'I Started As A Pot-Smoking Heavy Metal Kid'

September 11, 2006

Paul Saitowitz of The Press-Enterprise reports:

Dave Mustaine's story is so quintessentially rock 'n' roll that it almost seems fabricated.

A young guitar shredder from a broken home with a penchant for booze and heroin gets booted from the biggest metal band in history before he even gets a chance to record on an album. So like any tortured musician worth his salt he wallows in a bigger pit of self-destruction while his former band climbs the charts to superstardom.

Eventually he gets his act together and emerges victorious. His new group has a best-selling album. Success is good, but drugs are better. He relapses only to return on top.

Then he falls further into drugs, gets a DUI and comes back with another platinum record. Then, a devastating condition almost ruins his ability to play guitar forever. But he comes back again.

The band Mustaine used to be in is called METALLICA; the one he leads now is called MEGADETH.

"I did my first professional recording back in 1981, and this is really the only life I've ever known," Mustaine said over the phone while taking a break from a recording session. "I started as a pot-smoking heavy metal kid and to some extent that's what I still am."

Read the rest of the article at www.pe.com.

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