The Origin Of The Name Megadeth Was Revealed By Former Personnel, Greg Handvidt

JAKARTA - The origins behind the name of the band Megadeth have been a mystery for a long time. There are many theories and speculations circulating, before former guitarist Greg Hanividt spoke up.

Greg is the initial member who initiated the birth of Megadeth. He reminisced about the early days of his career when he formed a band with Dave Mustaine.

He expressed this when he was a guest on The David Ellefson Show. Including the question of the name that was finally officially answered by one of the founders.

"We were sitting in our little apartment, and Dave read Senator Alan Cranston's pamphlet discussing 'arsenal' of megadooth', and I think it really sparked something in him about nuclear war and how powerful it was war was and everything. Suddenly thought of me, 'Megadeath.' and I think, 'A cool name for a band.'," Greg Hanividt told Blabbermouth on July 29.

He felt that the name gave a special impression that sounded great. But on the other hand he was also overthinking with that name because it contained the word death. They finally agreed to modify it.

"And I sat down, and at that time and I still felt like that, even though my attitude towards it was a bit softened but I was like, 'Do you really want the word 'death' in your band name? Do you really want that?' It felt like negative karma for me at that time; that's what was in my head. So I sat down and wrote it down in one word, then I removed the letter 'A', then I wrote it on a piece of paper and I thought, 'Wow, cool. We can name the band MEGEDETH," he explained.

After officially choosing the name Megadeth, Greg revealed that Dave Mustaine didn't like him right away. It took some time before he was comfortable with the name.

"Then I remember a few days later he came back and said, 'Yes, this is starting to get my attention.' And that's the story. That's the story. It's just a little thing that passes quickly," he said.