• 1983-

  Dave MustaineLead vocals, guitar

  Dave EllefsonBass, vocals1983–2002, 2010–2021

  Gar SamuelsondDrums1984-1987

  Chris PolandGuitar1984-1987

  Nick MenzaDrums1989–1998

  Marty FriedmanGuitar1990–2000

  Jimmy DeGrassoDrums1998-2002

  Shawn DroverDrums2004-2014

  Chris BroderickGuitar2008-2014

  Kiko LoureiroGuitar2015-2023

  Dirk VerbeurenDrums2016-

  James LoMenzoBass, vocals2006-2010, 2022-

  Teemu MäntysaariGuitar2023-
• Dave Mustaine formed Megadeth after he was fired from Metallica in 1983. Metallica abruptly let him go after recording their debut album in New York City, so he was forced to take a Greyhound bus home to Los Angeles. In the terminal, Mustaine found a political pamphlet from California Senator Alan Cranston that said, "The arsenal of megadeath can't be rid," and thought "Megadeth" would make a great song title. That song turned into "Set The World Afire" from the 1988 album So Far, So Good… So What! but Megadeth became the name of his new band.
• There was a lot of animosity when Mustaine left Metallica, and although he told them not to use any of his work, Metallica did anyway, including four songs he co-wrote on their debut album Kill 'Em All and two more on their next album, Ride the Lightning. He didn't play on any Metallica songs though: his guitar parts were re-recorded by his replacement, Kirk Hammett.
• In the early stages of Megadeth, Kerry King was actually the band's guitarist for a very short time. King joined Megadeth for a few live shows and was the band's official guitarist for about a week, but he soon quit to continue focusing on his own band, Slayer.
• In 1998, Dave Mustaine made a cameo on the popular sitcom The Drew Carey Show as a guitarist auditioning for a band Drew was putting together with his friends. After playing a lightning fast guitar solo, Mustaine was denied the job because the group thought his speed was due to nervousness.
• British acts had the biggest influence on Dave Mustaine. In terms of guitar playing, Judas Priest, Motörhead, and other bands from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal were huge. It was an earlier generation that informed his songwriting though. "I learned the majority of my songwriting from the British Invasion," he said in a Songfacts interview. "So a lot of it was music from the UK, which copied American rock and roll from Robert Johnson, and it all goes back to Satan. [Laughs]"
• Combat Records gave Megadeth $8,000 to record their debut album, but the band quickly burned through the cash. The label gave the band another $4,000, but most of that money was spent on food, drugs, and alcohol, forcing Megadeth to fire their producer and produce the album themselves. Despite the lack of production value, Megadeth's debut album, Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good! was well-received and even re-issued in 2002.
• In 2002, Dave Mustaine suffered a freak injury that almost forced him to end the band. While being treated for addiction to prescription medication, he fell asleep with his left arm over the back of a chair. A radial nerve was compressed, and he couldn't make a fist or even feel much of his left arm. Mustaine thought he'd never be able to play guitar again, but after weeks of physical therapy and rigorous practice, he got back in form. The Deftones named their 2006 album Saturday Night Wrist after this condition, which is also called Saturday Night Palsy.
• Megadeth never had a #1 album, but Countdown to Extinction went to #2. It was a great source of frustration for the band when they couldn't unseat Billy Ray Cyrus from the top spot, as no amount of speed metal could overcome "Achy Breaky Heart."
• Mustaine isn't just a musician, he's a music trivia buff. In the late '90s, he appeared on Rock 'N' Roll Jeopardy, competing against fellow rock stars Moon Zappa and George Clinton. Mustaine won the game by a landslide.
• Dave Mustaine holds black belts in Taekwondo WTF and Ukidokan Karate. In 2007, he was appointed the World Taekwondo Federation's Goodwill Ambassador of the World.
• Shawn Drover quit Megadeth in November 2014 after 10 years so he could pursue his own musical interests. He was quickly followed by guitarist Chris Broderick, who departed due to artistic and musical differences.
  
  Kiko Loureiro, the co-founder of Brazilian power metal band Angra, was announced on April 2, 2015 as the replacement of Chris Broderick.
• MTV used the bassline from the Megadeth song "Peace Sells" as the intro tune for its "MTV News" segment. This intro ran for about a decade, making that song snippet one of the most ubiquitous bass grooves of the era. In a Songfacts interview with Dave Ellefson, he said, "It was something that was almost subliminally piped into everybody's house for 10 years, and it's amazing what an effect it has on people."
• During a 1988 show in Antrim, Northern Ireland, Dave Mustaine drunkenly dedicated Megadeth's version of "Anarchy in the U.K" to "the cause" of "giving Ireland back to the Irish!" Before the final song, Mustaine yelled, "This one's for the cause! Give Ireland back to the Irish!" A riot then broke out between the Catholics and Protestants and Megadeth had to travel back to Dublin in a bulletproof bus.
• Dave Mustaine fired bassist and co-founder David Ellefson from Megadeth in May 2021, following allegations of sexual misconduct with an underage fan. "It was a hard decision that had to be made," Mustaine told Metal Hammer. "There were a lot of people involved and I had to make a decision, because unfortunately, when you're the leader, you're the one that has to suck it up and face the music."
• Megadeth were the first band to launch a site on the World Wide Web. They did it in October 1994 to promote their Youthanasia album.

Comments: 2

• Chris from CanadaGreat guitarist. His playing influences me, I like the dirty sound.
• Anthony King from Irvine Ky.Megadeth is one of the best metal bands in America and the whole world. Metallica lost an element member when they fired Dave mustaine. I still like metallica but they lost a great musician.

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