MARTY FRIEDMAN Says He Is 'The Biggest MEGADETH Fan Out There', Wishes TEEMU MÄNTYSAARI 'Tons Of Success'

In a new interview with Ultimate Guitar, former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman was asked if he has had a chance to hear the band with its latest addition, Finnish guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari, who replaced Kiko Loureiro last September. Marty said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I haven't, as a matter of fact, but I'm sure he's doing a great job if he's up there doing it. And I was able to meet him when I played with the band at Wacken [Open Air festival in Germany last August] and he seemed a very, very cool dude. And I wish him tons and tons of success with the band and it's gonna be a big fun ride for him, I'm sure."

Regarding his current relationship with MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine, Marty said: "Yeah, it's great. We played two wonderful shows [last year] in Budokan [in Tokyo, Japan] and at Wacken Open Air. Yeah, he's a bro. I'm the biggest MEGADETH fan out there."

Friedman rejoined MEGADETH twice on stage in six months last year — first in February 2023 at Tokyo, Japan's famed Budokan and then in early August 2023 at the Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany.

At the 2023 Wacken Open Air, Marty performed four songs with MEGADETH: "Trust", "Tornado Of Souls", "Symphony Of Destruction" and "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due".

At Budokan, Friedman came up on stage for three songs toward the end of MEGADETH's main set: "Countdown To Extinction", "Tornado Of Souls" and "Symphony Of Destruction".

Last September, Friedman told Metalhead Marv of This Day In Metal about the experience of playing with MEGADETH again:  "It was wonderful. We have a wonderful history together, so when something special like that came up, it was kind of a definite thing that I wanted to do. And we both enjoyed it immensely. And I just hope the fans enjoyed it as much as we did. For us, it was just a really nice, nice thing to do to kind of just put an exclamation point on the thing that we did in the history of the band. And, of course, I'm the biggest fan of whatever they do in my absence and just rooting them on the whole way."

MEGADETH played its first concert with Mäntysaari on September 6, 2023 at Revel in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The 37-year-old Mäntysaari was born in Tampere, Finland and began playing guitar at the age of 12. In 2004, he joined the band WINTERSUN. He has also been a member of SMACKBOUND since 2015.

Mäntysaari stepped into MEGADETH as the replacement for 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.

Loureiro officially joined MEGADETH in April 2015, about five months after Chris Broderick's exit from the group.

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