DAVE MUSTAINE: MEGADETH 'Opened Doors' For Metal Guitar Players To Get 'Respectability'

In a recent interview with Poland's Mystic Festival, Dave Mustaine was asked to name MEGADETH's greatest achievement. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Just getting respectability for metal guitar players. I think that's really great, because when we first started out, metal guitar players were really great, but people just didn't have any respect for them because the bands that they were in were teeny little bands. And as we went along and opened more doorways, some of the doors we had to kick in, but we opened doors for ourselves and other people."

Asked if the MEGADETH song "Peace Sells", which appeared on the band's 1986 album "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?", was a "turning point" for him, Mustaine said: "I didn't feel that… I had not felt that for a long time. And I knew when I wrote the song that there was a part in the middle, the middle eight part, that was the first time I had come up with a part that melodic. Everything else was really aggressive, where they rip your face off kind of stuff. And 'Peace Sells', the tempo was slower, the riff was slower, and the sarcasm in the lyrics, 'What do you mean?' You know? That was the beginning of my character really coming into focus for me as a frontman, as a singer, as a lyricist."

Mustaine also picked his top three MEGADETH songs, naming "Symphony Of Destruction", from the band's fifth studio album, 1992's "Countdown To Extinction"; "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due", from 1990's "Rust In Peace" LP; and the aforementioned "Peace Sells". Dave explained: "'Symphony' [and] 'Holy Wars' because of the stance in the lyrics that we need to be together. 'Peace Sells' because 'Peace Sells' is one of those songs that shows the wit, the sarcasm and the desire for metal fans to have a better life. When they sing, 'I'll be the first in line', that means they want something better too."

MEGADETH recently announced "Breakout: Hibernation Of The Nations", a European chapter of the band's multi-year global farewell headline tour. Kicking off March 9, 2027 in Belfast, the 24-date arena run will bring MEGADETH to fans across the United Kingdom and mainland Europe before concluding April 13 in Lisbon, Portugal. Joining MEGADETH for the entire tour are fellow metal titans BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and TESTAMENT.

The European leg will visit 12 of the 22 global markets where the album reached the Top 5, underscoring MEGADETH's continued international appeal. Rather than a single farewell run, the band's final journey has been designed as a multi-year, multi-continent celebration, giving fans around the world several opportunities to experience MEGADETH live.

MEGADETH's latest, self-titled album debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart after earning 73,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending January 29, 2026, according to Luminate. The bulk of that sum was driven by pure album sales (purchases of physical and digital copies of the album),totaling 69,000.

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

"Megadeth" also claimed the top spot in Australia (highest previous position No. 2) and Austria (highest previous position No. 8). Other top five spots included No. 2 in Finland (and No. 1 physical),Sweden (plus No. 1 physical; highest previous position No. 9) and Belgium (highest previous position: No. 6); No. 3 in both the U.K. and Germany (highest previous position No. 6); No. 4 in the Netherlands (highest previous position No. 7); and No. 5 in both Italy (highest previous position No. 15) and New Zealand (highest chart position ever).

For its final album, MEGADETH once again worked with Chris Rakestraw, a producer, mixer and engineer who previously worked on MEGADETH's last two LPs, the aforementioned "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" and 2016's "Dystopia".

Guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari joined MEGADETH nearly three years ago. He stepped in as the replacement for Brazilian-born guitarist Kiko Loureiro, who announced in September 2023 that he would sit out the next leg of MEGADETH's "Crush The World" tour in order to stay home with his children back in Finland.

In addition to Mustaine and Mäntysaari, MEGADETH's current lineup includes drummer Dirk Verbeuren and bassist James LoMenzo.