DAVE MUSTAINE: 'There's Nothing Worse Than When Someone Comes Into Your Presence And Tries To Change You'

In a new interview with Finland's Chaoszine, MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine spoke about the importance of sticking to his guns as a musician, both in terms of his songwriting style and the way he approaches his vocal delivery. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's great, 'cause you look out from the stage where I stand and you see all young people and they're having a good time. They're experiencing the music, they're loving life. And that's who I was when I started writing this stuff. I was a young man and rebellion is a young man's game. So, for me to be singing about, you know, my stocks and my bonds and my expensive jets and stuff like that, who can relate with that? You set your fans up for such disappointment and failure, because if they think that that's something that everyone can attain, it's not — it's for those who work for it, inherit it or get very lucky. And I like to give our fans the understanding that they can do anything that they want to do if they put their mind to it. It may take a little bit of time, depending on what they want to do, but I encourage them to follow their dreams. I did. It's the people that get in your way and tell you that you can't do things that you need to get out of your life because they're the ones that are gonna stop you from achieving those dreams."

He continued: "Who would've ever thought I…? If you would've asked a young Dave Mustaine that I would've lived this long, I would've said no. Or if you would've said that I would've been successful for 40 years straight, I would've said, 'No. I don't believe it.' But you stick to your guns, you have your own personal truth and you stick to it, and you don't have to ever remember the lies. Sometimes you will upset people and disappoint people. There's nothing worse than when someone comes into your presence and tries to change you. It's kind of like, 'What did you like about me in the first place?' Getting a vocal coach to come in and change my voice would be wrong, because I've sang with the same approach for so long. Making me value my instrument better and be able to perform longer is a different thing — that's a conditioning coach, right? So I think if you pay attention, too, you're gonna learn what you need. Don't just go and do what people tell you what to do. Just have your own critical thinking, and if something doesn't feel right with your voice, go see an ear, nose and throat doctor. You may have polyps, you may have throat cancer like I did [in 2019], like [IRON MAIDEN's] Bruce Dickinson did [in 2015]. I guarantee you, if you asked him, he'd probably say the same thing I did that he didn't expect to get cancer. I didn't expect to get cancer."

MEGADETH kicked off the summer 2023 European leg of its "Crush The World" tour on July 23 at the Triple Thrash Triumph festival at Spodek in Katowice, Poland.

MEGADETH's current lineup includes Dave Mustaine (guitar, vocals),Belgian-born-and-now-Los-Angeles-based drummer Dirk Verbeuren, who had played with SOILWORK for more than a decade before joining MEGADETH, Brazilian guitarist Kiko Loureiro, who was previously best known for his work with ANGRA, and bassist James LoMenzo. James was MEGADETH's bass player in the mid-2000s and stepped back in as a touring member for the 2021 leg of "The Metal Tour Of The Year". In May 2022, it was announced that Lomenzo was officially rejoining the MEGADETH family.

Last September, MEGADETH's latest album, "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!", debuted at the top of the charts during its first week of sales, taking the No. 3 spot on the Billboard 200 as well as number ones on Top Album Sales, Top Current Albums Sales, Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Top Hard Rock Albums. "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" was the highest-charting MEGADETH album of all time around the world, notching No. 1 In Finland, No. 2 in australia, poland, Switzerland, and Scotland, No. 3 in the U.K., and more.

MEGADETH's previous top 10 entries on the Billboard 200 were "Countdown to Extinction" (No. 2, 1992),"Youthanasia" (No. 4, 1994),"Cryptic Writings" (No. 10, 1997),"United Abominations" (No. 8, 2007),"Endgame" (No. 9, 2009),"Super Collider" (No. 6, 2013) and "Dystopia" (No. 3, 2016).

MEGADETH recently received its thirteenth Grammy nomination for "Best Metal Performance" for the song "We'll Be Back" from "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!".

MEGADETH won the 2017 Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance" for the title track of the band's 2016 album "Dystopia". This marked the group's twelfth Grammy nomination in this category (including nominations in the discontinued "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category).