MEGADETH Announces 2026 Canadian Tour With ANTHRAX And EXODUS

MEGADETH has announced a headlining tour of Canada for 2026. Support on the 12-date trek will come from fellow thrash metal legends ANTHRAX and EXODUS.

Presales will begin on November 26 at 10 a.m., with the general on-sale starting on November 28 at 10 a.m. local time.

Cyber Army members get first access. Special VIP offers, including Side Stage Experience and bandmember meet-and-greets will be available. Don't miss your chance to secure tickets before the rest of the world.

MEGADETH "Canada 2026" tour dates with ANTHRAX and EXODUS:

Feb. 15 - Victoria, BC @ Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
Feb. 17 - Abbotsford, BC @ Rogers Forum
Feb. 18 - Kelowna, BC @ Prospera Place
Feb. 20 - Calgary, AB @ Scotiabank Saddledome
Feb. 21 - Edmonton, AB @ Rogers Place
Feb. 24 - Saskatoon, SK @ SaskTel Centre
Feb. 25 - Winnipeg, MB @ Canada Life Centre
Feb. 28 - London, ON @ Canada Life Place
Mar. 01 - Ottawa, ON @ Canadian Tire Centre
Mar. 03 - Halifax, NS @ Scotiabank Centre
Mar. 04 - Moncton, NB @ Avenir Centre
Mar. 06 - Québec, QC @ Videotron Centre

MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine recently told Metal Hammer magazine that he wants the final concert of his band's farewell tour to take place in space. "I hope we'll be playing up in space," he said. "I think that will be a really fitting climax. And I'm not talking about on the side of a vomit comet. A gig on the moon, a full moon landing, that would be cool."

Referencing the fact that pop superstar Katy Perry, "Star Trek" actor William Shatner and British billionaire Richard Branson have all made trips into space in recent years, Dave added: "I saw they sent up a bunch of celebrities into space and I thought 'Well, if them, why not me?', you know? I'm just watching how that all progresses. I know Elon Musk and Richard Branson were working on interstellar travel. I think people are going to be travelling to space a lot sooner than you think."

Asked by Metal Hammer if he was joking about the idea of actually playing a gig in outer space, Dave said: "People already travel over 40,000 feet altitude, and when you get to that kind of atmosphere you're basically already in space. So I do think it's going to happen. The question is, are people going to be able to inhabit the moon?"

This past August, MEGADETH announced its plans to retire with a farewell album and tour.

"There's so many musicians that have come to the end of their career, whether accidental or intentional," Mustaine explained in a social media post. "Most of them don't get to go out on their own terms on top, and that's where I'm at in my life right now."

Mustaine has since clarified that MEGADETH's farewell run of shows could last "for another three to five years".

MEGADETH was founded in 1983 after Mustaine was kicked out of METALLICA, a band he was a part of for less than a year.

MEGADETH released its debut album, "Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!" , in 1985.

Earlier this month, MEGADETH released a music video for the band's new song "I Don't Care". "I Don't Care" is the second single from MEGADETH's upcoming self-titled album, due on January 23, 2026. The follow-up to "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" will be released via Mustaine's Tradecraft imprint on Frontiers Label Group's new BLKIIBLK label.

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 two 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. It was later revealed that the now-38-year-old Finnish musician would continue to play guitar for MEGADETH for the foreseeable future, with Loureiro seemingly having no plans to return.

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.

Released in September 2022, MEGADETH's latest album, "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!", sold 48,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked MEGADETH's eighth top 10-charting album.

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).

Led by the growled vocals and razor-wire riffing of Mustaine, MEGADETH are one of the "Big Four" thrash titans. Shortly after being kicked out of METALLICA in 1983, Mustaine met bassist David Ellefson, and the pair bonded quickly, forming the core of MEGADETH. Drummer Gar Samuelson and guitarist Chris Poland later joined, and MEGADETH released their underground-hit debut "Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!" in 1985. Its follow-up, "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?", solidified the band's status with sprawling yet tightly wound songs like the uneasy opener "Wake Up Dead" and the fiery title track.

"So Far, So Good... So What!", released in 1988, featured a new lineup as well as a thrashy cover of the SEX PISTOLS' "Anarchy In The U.K." and the anti-PMRC broadside "Hook In Mouth". In 1990 they released "Rust In Peace", with Nick Menza on drums and technical wizard Marty Friedman on guitar; songs such as "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" and "Hangar 18" blended pummeling riffs and suspicion-fueled lyrics with a stadium-rock ambition that matched the era's metal-embracing tendencies.

"Countdown To Extinction", released in 1992, and "Youthanasia", released in 1994, continued the band's dominance of metal and emergence in rock's mainstream, with the latter album's "À Tout Le Monde" being a rare thrash ballad. After a brief breakup in the early 2000s, MEGADETH returned as a de facto Mustaine solo project with 2004's "The System Has Failed". Ellefson rejoined in 2010 prior to the album "Th1rt3en" and remained in the MEGADETH lineup until 2021, when he was fired.

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

Photo credit: Ross Halfin