MEGADETH Announces March/April 2027 European Tour With BLACK LABEL SOCIETY And TESTAMENT

Following one of the most celebrated years in the band's legendary career, Grammy Award-winning thrash metal pioneers MEGADETH have announced "Breakout: Hibernation Of The Nations", a European chapter of their 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, creating one of the most anticipated heavy metal touring packages of 2027.

The tour follows the overwhelming global success of MEGADETH's seventeenth and final studio album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — the band's first-ever chart-topping album — and reaffirmed their place as one of heavy metal's most enduring and influential forces.

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.

"This isn't about saying goodbye," says MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine. "It's about celebrating everything we've built together over the last four decades. Every city has its own story, every crowd has given us unforgettable memories, and we want to come back to celebrate that with the fans who made it all possible."

For more than four decades, MEGADETH has continually pushed heavy music forward through fearless songwriting, virtuosic musicianship, and uncompromising live performances. Fans can expect a career-spanning production celebrating every era of MEGADETH, featuring iconic anthems, fan favorites, and selections from the band's historic No. 1 album.

Cyber Army presale: Tuesday, August 4 at 10:00 a.m. local time

Artist Presale: Wednesday, August 5 at 10:00 a.m. local time

General On Sale: Friday, August 7 at 10:00 a.m. local time

Fans are encouraged to join the MEGADETH Cyber Army for first access to tickets and VIP packages. VIP packages include meet-and-greet opportunities, premium merchandise, early entry, exclusive memorabilia and once-in-a-lifetime fan experiences.

For tickets, VIP packages, and complete tour information, visit www.megadeth.com.

"Breakout: Hibernation Of The Nations" 2027 tour dates:

March 09 - Belfast, UK @ The O2 Belfast
March 11 - London, UK @ OVO Arena Wembley
March 12 - Nottingham, UK @Motorpoint Arena
March 13 - Manchester, UK @ Co-op Live
March 15 - Cardiff, UK @ Utilita Arena
March 16 - Glasgow, UK @ OVO Hydro
March 18 - Birmingham, UK @ BP Pulse Live
March 19 - Leeds, UK @ First Direct Bank Arena
March 21 - Paris, France @ Zénith Paris - La Villette
March 23 - Brussels, Belgium @ Forest National
March 24 - Amsterdam, Netherlands @ AFAS Live
March 25 - Düsseldorf, Germany @ Mitsubishi Electric Halle
March 27 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ K.B. Hallen
March 28 - Oslo, Norway @ Oslo Spektrum
March 30 - Hamburg, Germany @ Sporthalle
April 01 - Berlin, Germany @ Velodrom
April 02 - Kraków, Poland @ Tauron Arena
April 04 - Munich, Germany @ Zenith
April 05 - Bern, Switzerland @ Festhalle Bern
April 06 - Milan, Italy @ Unipol Forum
April 08 - Lyon, France @ Halle Tony Garnier
April 10 - Barcelona, Spain @ Olimpic Arena
April 12 - Madrid, Spain @ Movistar Arena
April 13 - Lisbon, Portugal @ Sagres Campo Pequeno

"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).

"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).

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.

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