DAVE MUSTAINE On MEGADETH Lineup Changes: 'For Almost 50 Years, The Amount Of People That We Have On Record Is Really Pretty Small'

In a new interview with Fox Radio host Terrence Long, MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine was asked how he has managed to keep the band's momentum for more than four decades despite going through a number of lineup changes over the years. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Certain people say that there's been a lot of people that have been in MEGADETH, and there's been a lot of people that have said they were in the band — people who were auditioned, people who were in name only. For almost 50 years, the amount of people that we have on record is really pretty small. If you think about David Bowie, he had loads of people he played with. And, for me, I wished that it was just one lineup the whole time, honestly. But you don't always have that luxury of playing with the same people for long periods of time, especially in something as intense as thrash metal. Because face it, thrash metal's a young man's game, and certain people grow up, they grow old and some people change. They still have the fire, some people don't."

Reflecting on MEGADETH's early years, Mustaine said: "There was just a quality about the music and the scene that we were all a part of that I really loved being in the middle of. We would go places and we would see people, and there we were, and that was a great feeling because it was like we had our own private club, and we would show up and it just felt good, because everybody that was there was part of that scene, part of that metal, part of that brethren. And we all wanted to be part of that scene, and we all knew who was part of that scene. A very famous shirt that was being worn around a long time ago was a hand-painted t-shirt of one of the guys from MÖTLEY [CRÜE], and it was a shirt that had a line through it, and it said, 'No posers.' And I think that was the bass player that was wearing that shirt. But, anyways, there was a huge standoff between the guys that played metal and the people who were more of the pop kind of guys, the glam guys."

Mustaine also talked about his decision to release what is being billed as MEGADETH's final studio album, the recently released self-titled effort, and embark on a "farewell" tour. Asked if he feels he has said everything he wanted to say with his music, Mustaine replied: "Well, it's not because I wanna quit. My hand is giving me problems, and I don't wanna keep playing if I can't play. That, to me, is a little frightening. I don't wanna go out in front of our fans and not be able to do my best. I wanna make sure that I do my best and that fans will always be smacking each other, saying, 'Can you believe what I just saw?' That kind of stuff. So, yeah, I don't know how much longer we'll be touring. It may be a little while. It may not."

He added: "It sucks when you got guys that don't have a debilitating situation that are just being lazy, and you see 'em just taking the easy way out. That, to me, is kind of shitty. But I am who I am when it comes down to playing and the way that I take the stage. I don't wanna ever go out there and do it half-assed. I wanna make sure that I kick ass every time I take the stage. And I believe that every time we've hit the stage on this last tour, every date that we've done so far, we've done that, that it's 100% and we're ready to go. And we've put on great shows."

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" 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.