“We’re always going to be responsible for making some of the most fun music that bassists and guitarists and drummers will ever want to play”: Dave Mustaine doesn’t know what he’ll do with himself after Megadeth call it quits

Dave Mustaine isn’t sure what he’ll do after Megadeth retire.

In the summer, the thrash metal icons’ founder, singer and guitarist revealed that the band will split after wrapping up the touring cycle for their upcoming self-titled album.

Despite having all that time to think about what he’ll get up to once he’s stepped offstage for the final time, he admits in a new Metal Hammer interview that he doesn’t know what’s next.

“Well, there’s so much still going on now that I don’t really want to think about that too much,” Mustaine says when we broach the topic of life after ’Deth. “I can’t really conceive of an end right now.”

After a little bit of prodding, he elaborates. “I don’t think there is going to be a morning after,” he says. “I think for all of us, we’re always going to be in Megadeth. We’re always going to be brothers now and best friends, and we’re always going to be responsible for making some of the most fun music that bassists and guitarists and drummers will ever want to play.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Hammer mentions that there have been countless veteran metal bands, from Mötley Crüe to Slayer, who’ve broken up only to return a few years later. Mustaine insists that Megadeth will not be one of those bands.

“I don’t think so,” he says. “You see the scuttlebutt that is associated with bands like that. You know they never follow through with it and stick to their word.”

He adds that he’s steadfast in Megadeth ending after their last studio album, which is set to come out on January 23 via BLKIIBLK, but that there could well be a live album still to come documenting their final shows.

“Look, it all depends on how the statements are crafted,” he continues. “So, we’re doing no more studio albums. Does that mean there might be a live album at the end of all of this? Yeah, it certainly looks that way.”

When Megadeth announced their retirement in August, Mustaine said that they were doing so so that they could go out on their own terms.

“There’s so many musicians that have come to the end of their career, whether accidental or intentional,” he explained. “Most of them don't get to go out on their own terms on top, and that’s where I'm at in my life right now.”

Earlier this month, though, he revealed that his decision to step away was partially due to him having the hand condition Dupuytren’s contracture.

“It’s gonna make my finger come down like this,” he told MariskalRockTV. “It’s already started, where it’s kind of bunching up a little bit. And then if you look at the tips of my fingers, they’re severely arthritic. So all those bumps makes it really painful to play.”

Mustaine plans to have surgery, but not before Megadeth’s farewell tour comes to an end. He explained: “If I wait until my hands are causing a problem and I try it and it doesn’t work, well then I’ve toured everywhere, I’ve said farewell everybody and am not leaving stuff unsaid or unfinished.”

Mustaine founded Megadeth in 1983, shortly after his expulsion from fellow thrash metal heroes Metallica. Apart from a brief hiatus from 2002 to 2004, during which he nursed an arm injury that stopped him from playing guitar, the band have been active with him at the helm ever since.

Megadeth will play the first shows on their farewell run from February to March, when they headline across Canada. From April to May, they’ll tour South and Central America, and in June they’ll come to Europe to support Iron Maiden and play the odd festival date. They’ll continue to support Maiden on a series of North American shows in the autumn.

The full interview with Mustaine will be in Metal Hammer issue 409, which hits shelves on January 8. Our current issue – an end-of-year special featuring interviews with Ghost, Iron Maiden and more, plus our picks for the top 50 metal albums of 2025 – is currently available to order online.