Dave Mustaine Reveals His Difficulty Playing Guitar Due to Worsening Hand Condition

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine (Instagram @megadeth)

JAKARTA - Megadeth's frontman, Dave Mustaine, admitted that he was struggling with a very painful hand condition, which made it increasingly difficult for him to pick up the guitar strings properly.

As is known, Mustaine was diagnosed with Dupuytren's contracture, a medical condition in which tissue forms under the skin of the palm of the hand that causes the fingers to be drawn towards the center of the hand permanently.

Mustaine explained that his physical condition began to affect his performance on stage. He also honestly expressed his concerns to management about his future in the music world.

"One day I just said to my management, 'You know, I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to do this,'" Mustaine said in a recent interview on MariskalRockTV.

The condition experienced is not just a normal pain. Mustaine showed how his fingers began to bend uncontrollably due to the accumulation of tissue. In addition to Dupuytren's contracture, he also wrestled with a pretty severe joint problem.

"It's going to make my fingers go down like this. It's already started, where it's starting to kind of clump up a little bit. And then if you look at my fingertips, they're having severe arthritis," he said. "So all those lumps are making it really painful to play."

The pain was compounded by Mustaine also having a problem with his back which made it difficult for him to give a hundred percent performance every night of the show.

However, Mustaine does not want to give up without giving his loyal fans one last gift. He plans to undergo hand surgery after completing the entire Megadeth farewell tour series.

For him, it is important to complete all the stage promises before his physical condition is no longer possible.

"If I wait until my hand causes problems and I try it and it doesn't work, at least I've toured everywhere, I've said goodbye to everyone and haven't left unspoken or unfinished things," he said.

The decision to end Megadeth's journey came after the band completed recording their 17th album. The album is scheduled to be released in January 2026, followed by a tour titled "This Was Our Life" which will begin in Canada in February.

Mustaine emphasized that as an American band with a global mass base, they are committed to making a decent farewell around the world.

"We have a lot of tour schedules to do to do our farewell properly," he concluded.