Megadeth Call It Quits

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After thirteen albums and nearly twenty years together, Megadeth have officially split. The band went on hiatus earlier this year, after Dave Mustaine suffered an injury to his left arm. The injury has turned out to be more serious, as Mustaine is suffering from a compressed radial nerve in his left arm, which will keep him from performing for at least a year.

Megadeth formed in 1983 after guitarist/singer Dave Mustaine's departure from Metallica. Along with Mustaine, bassist David Ellefson is the only musician who stayed with the band from start to split. The group released its first album, the independently released Killing Is My Business . . . And Business Is Good!, seventeen years ago. The group was quickly snatched up by Capitol, which released Megadeth's next seven albums, including 1986's Peace Sells . . . But Who's Buying?, 1992's Countdown to Extinction (the band's highest charting album at Number Two), and 1999's Risk.

Following the release of Risk, Megadeth shifted to Sanctuary Records, on which they released The World Needs a Hero last year and this year's live album, Rude Awakening. During their two decades, Megadeth also garnered seven Grammy nominations, and five of their albums have reached Platinum status (a million copies sold).

"I have had a terrific time singing and playing for you while I was in Megadeth," said Mustaine. "While I work on rebuilding my arm, I will take this opportunity to reappraise my career and my future. I have decided to explore other areas of the music business where I might make a contribution without being able to play my instrument."

Mustaine also plans to spend more of his time with his family. "In terms of being a Gold or Platinum parent, I have a long way to go," he said, "and I'm eager to get started."

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Song Stories

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The Joy Formidable | 2011

The opener off the Welsh group’s The Big Roar album was an epic one, but the band was worried that track had polarized fans. “The first song is eight minutes long,” Rhydian Dafydd, the Joy Formidable bassist, said. “If you did that in the Seventies people would be, ‘Whatever.’ You do it now, people think, ‘Holy s---!’ Some people think it’s the f---ing greatest track on the entire album, and some people think it’s f---ing boring. It’s that element of needing to challenge people.” The band concluded through the song’s lyrics that love was the “everchanging spectrum of a lie.”

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