Megadeth Retires After Last World Tour, Dave Mustaine Reveals His Reason

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine (Instagram @megadeth)

JAKARTA - American thrash metal legend Megadeth will hold a final world tour before finally retiring from the music stage.

Instead of being wrapped in a sad atmosphere, this farewell stage was emphasized as a grand celebration of four decades of hard music that they had built together with fans.

Megadeth's main character, Dave Mustaine, confirmed that this series of closing concerts was not designed as a sentimental farewell. According to him, this tour is intended as a form of high respect for the loyalty of the heavy metal fan base in various parts of the world.

"This isn't about saying goodbye. It's about celebrating all we've built together over the past four decades," Mustaine said in a recent interview on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk.

"Every city has its own story, every audience gives us unforgettable memories, and we want to come back to celebrate with the fans who made all of this possible," he added.

The decision to dissolve Megadeth was triggered by Mustaine's deteriorating health at the age of 64. He has significant physical health problems, such as arthritis, tissue erosion, and serious problems with the spine that require nerve surgery.

The physical condition that is no longer in good condition directly affects his guitar playing on stage. Mustaine admitted that his fingers often felt pain and were difficult to compromise when playing Megadeth's repertoire, which is known for being fast, technical, and precise.

"I always say that when it comes to the point where I am not able to give one hundred percent every night, that's when I will start considering ending it. My hand is starting to disappoint me. There was a period when we were working and I told my manager that I don't know how much longer I can do this because my hand really hurts," he said.

Mustaine added that this retirement decision was made after discussions with band members, management, family, and through mature spiritual consideration after they completed the last studio album which was released in January.

The farewell tour series opened in Canada in February. Furthermore, Megadeth is scheduled to shake Europe which begins in Belfast, Northern Ireland on March 9 and closes in Portugal on April 13.

To complete this farewell stage, Megadeth also brought two big names in the world of heavy metal, namely Black Label Society and Testament, as special guests throughout the tour series.

"When we started talking about this tour, we wanted this tour to be a true metal celebration. Black Label Society and Testament are bands we really respect, and their presence makes this show much more special. This line-up represents decades of heavy music and it will be an amazing night for the fans," Mustaine concluded.