Dave Mustaine
David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth.[1] Mustaine has released sixteen studio albums with Megadeth, sold over 38 million records worldwide, with six albums platinum-certified, and won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2017 at the 59th Grammy Awards, for the title track of their fifteenth studio album, Dystopia.[2]
For the Indonesian footballer, see Dave Mustaine (footballer).
Dave Mustaine
David Scott Mustaine
September 13, 1961
La Mesa, California, U.S.
- Musician
- songwriter
- producer
- Guitar
- vocals
1978–present
Prior to forming Megadeth, Mustaine was the lead guitarist of Metallica but did not appear on any albums. He was, however, credited on four songs from Kill 'Em All and two songs from Ride the Lightning. Mustaine was born into a family of Jehovah's Witnesses.[3] He now identifies as a born-again Christian.[4][5] Mustaine has been to rehab throughout his life, fighting alcohol and drug problems,[6][7] and briefly battled throat cancer in 2019.[8] Mustaine has been married to Pamela Anne Casselberry since 1991, with whom he has two children, Electra and Justis Mustaine.[9]
In a popular vote on the internet forum of Ultimate Guitar, Mustaine was ranked third in the top 25 rhythm guitarists of all time,[10] first in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists,[11] tenth in Loudwire's "66 Best Hard Rock + Metal Guitarists of All Time",[12] and third in their "10 Greatest Rhythm Guitarists in Rock + Metal".[13]
Early life
Mustaine was born on September 13, 1961,[14] in La Mesa, California,[15] (a nearby suburb of San Diego) to parents Emily Marie (née David) and John Jefferson Mustaine. His father was of French, German, Irish, and Finnish descent,[16][17] while his mother was of German Jewish ancestry.[18][19] The Mustaine family were Jehovah's Witnesses.[20]
Mustaine had three older sisters, Michelle, Suzanne, and Debbie, who were 18, 15, and 3 respectively when he was born. Due to the significant age difference between Mustaine and his sisters, as a child he often thought of them as his aunts rather than sisters. Mustaine has described family life as tumultuous during his early life, lamenting years later that "life unraveled in a great many ways" for his family before he was born. Mustaine has described his father as "a very smart and successful man, good with his hands and head" who was a branch manager for Bank of America before moving to NCR, where the corporation's transition from mechanical to electrical technology ultimately made him expendable and cost him his job. A longtime problem drinker, John Mustaine's issues with alcohol only grew worse from then on, and he left his four-year-old son permanently after Emily divorced him in 1965.[21]
Gigantour
In the summer of 2005, Mustaine launched a travelling North American metal festival. He named it Gigantour after a favorite childhood cartoon of his, Gigantor. It spanned six weeks and was co-headlined by Megadeth and Dream Theater, with a variety of other supporting metal acts such as Fear Factory and the Dillinger Escape Plan. Mustaine has been quoted as saying that his main intention when conceiving the tour was to bring the American metal audiences an eclectic and affordable alternative to Ozzfest.
The second annual Gigantour began in September 2006 and was composed of Megadeth, Lamb of God, Opeth, and Arch Enemy. The second stage bands were Overkill, Into Eternity, Sanctity, and the SmashUp.
The 2007 Gigantour featured Bring Me the Horizon, Static-X, DevilDriver, and Lacuna Coil along with Megadeth. Megadeth appeared on their first tour to Bangalore, India in March 2008.
The 2008 installment of the tour featured Megadeth, Children of Bodom, In Flames, High on Fire, and Job for a Cowboy (and Evile for the UK and Scandinavia tour).[164]
Megadeth Blood in the Water: Live in San Diego (from the Gigantour 2008) premiered on HDNet Sunday November 2 at 8 p.m. in high definition and 5.1 audio (Repeats check www.hd.net)
In November 2011, it was announced the Gigantour would start up again. The lineup consisted of Megadeth, Motörhead, Volbeat, and Lacuna Coil. The tour kicked off at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, New Jersey on January 26, 2012.
Guitar playing
Mustaine is known for popularizing the "spider chord" technique for playing power chords, a method streamlining hand position changes and reducing string noise.[181]
In 2004, Guitar World magazine ranked Mustaine and Marty Friedman together at No. 19 on the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time.[182]
In 2009, Mustaine was named the No. 1 player in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists.[14] As he told Classic Rock magazine in September 2009: "It was especially sweet when I found out that Joel has written books on Metallica. Every page I turned, I became more excited. I get to Number 5 and it's Kirk Hammett, and I thought, 'Thank you, God'. At that point it didn't matter [which position I was]. To be better than both of them [James Hetfield and Hammett] meant so much – it's been one of the pet peeves of my career and I've never known how to deal with it. All I thought was – I win!"[183]
In 2012, Mustaine was ranked the 12th-greatest guitarist of all time by a Guitar World magazine reader's poll.[184]
Mustaine has appeared on various television shows:
Mustaine composed the song "Sudden Death" for the video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, released in September 2010, under the name of his band. The game also features two additional Megadeth titles, "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" and "This Day We Fight!". Megadeth downloadable content was available for the game but as of March 31, 2015, the tracks were removed as all DLC for the game was removed;[229] the tracks that were available for purchase were "Symphony of Destruction", "Hangar 18", and "Peace Sells".
Mustaine appeared on country singer Brett Kissel's song "Damn!" from his 2017 album We Were That Song.