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Dave Mustaine

Born in Arizona

Dave Mustaine's Genre:

Pop/Rock

Biography

Although he never appeared on any of their albums, guitarist Dave Mustaine lent a major hand in creating Metallica's groundbreaking thrash metal sound. Born on September 13, 1961, in La Mesa, CA, Mustaine and his family had to move often while he was a youngster to escape the wrath of his alcoholic and violent father. It was through his older sister that he was turned on to music (mostly the singer/songwriter folk sounds of Cat Stevens), but by his teenage years, Mustaine had become a major metal fan; teaching himself to play guitar while not learning from his father's mistakes, he began indulging heavily in alcohol and shortly thereafter, hard drugs. It was during his tenure as a drug dealer that he was turned on to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (Iron Maiden, Saxon, Motörhead, Venom) from a "client" who would offer payment in the form of albums.

Living in the Los Angeles area by this time and inspired by this new heavy style, Mustaine set out to form a band patterned after the NWOBHM sound that would focus more on music than image (the complete opposite of what the entire glam metal scene of the Sunset Strip was doing at the time). Through a local paper ad, Mustaine hooked up with singer/guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, and bassist Ron McGovney -- leading to the formation of Metallica. Although the band's sound and approach would eventually influence countless other metal bands, Metallica wasn't succeeding in L.A. With McGovney not pulling his weight, the group welcomed new bassist Cliff Burton to the fold -- but Burton would only join if the group relocated to San Francisco. With nothing to lose, the band made the trip, and instantly garnered a substantial following with their high energy live shows and a heavily circulated demo, No Life 'Til Leather. The demo landed a record deal with the independent Megaforce label, but the group would have to relocate yet again, this time to New York.

Shortly after arriving, Metallica booted Mustaine from the band, citing that his self-destructive ways were proving detrimental to the others.

Deeply depressed, Mustaine returned back home on a bus. It was during the nearly weeklong ride that Mustaine came up with the name and concept for his next band, Megadeth -- the subject matter and lyrics would be more thought provoking than his previous band's, and the music would be even more intense and precise. Shortly after he returned home to California, Mustaine befriended a metal-loving/bass playing neighbor in his apartment, Dave Ellefson, who was the first to enlist in Mustaine's new outfit. Drummer Lee Rash and former-Slayer guitarist Kerry King also signed on and began playing out (with Mustaine eventually handling the vocal chores in addition to guitar). By 1984, Rash was replaced by Gar Samuelson, while Chris Poland stepped in for King, who had returned back to Slayer, as Megadeth signed to Combat Records. Their debut, 1985's Killing Is My Business, created a buzz in the metal underground, but the buzz turned to a roar by the time of their major-label debut for Capitol a year later, Peace Sells...But Who's Buying, considered one of the greatest metal releases of all time, eventually reaching gold status.

Throughout the rest of the '80s, Mustaine's addictions grew larger and more dangerous as he and Ellefson were the only constant members amidst a revolving door of other hired guns. 1988's unfocused So Far So Good So What was followed two years later by Rust in Peace, a glorious return to form. It was perceived in the press that Mustaine was now finally "clean and sober," but this proved not to be case, as he continued to battle his demons throughout the '90s. Mustaine also continued to duke it out in the press with his former bandmates in Metallica, as he claimed to have written the majority of the music for their first few albums (to a certain degree, this proved to be true, as Mustaine earned songwriting credits for such early Metallica songs as "The Four Horsemen," "Jump in the Fire," "Phantom Lord," "Metal Militia," "Ride the Lightning," and "Call of Ktulu," among others). Nevertheless, Megadeth racked up such further hit albums as 1992's Countdown to Extinction, 1994's Youthanasia, and 1997's Cryptic Writings. In addition to his Megadeth duties, Mustaine also appeared in the 1988 Penelope Spheeris-directed metal documentary Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years, covered the Democratic National Convention for MTV in 1992, joined former Fear frontman Lee Ving for a one-off project dubbed MD.45 (their lone album was 1996's The Craving), and designed his own line of instruments for the Jackson guitar company.

After several near-death experiences, Mustaine cleaned up his act for good in the late-'90s, as Megadeth continued to tour and crank out further releases -- 1999's experimental Risk and their first release for the Sanctuary label, 2001's The World Needs a Hero. The band (and to a greater degree, Mustaine) was the subject of a VH1 Behind the Music episode the same year, as well. ~ Greg Prato

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Dave Mustaine

This station plays the best music from and music from related artists like James Hetfield, The Great Kat, Kirk Hammett, Yngwie Malmsteen, Trey Azagthoth, Denis D'amour, Scott Ian, Kerry King, Dan Spitz, Nigel Tufnel and more.

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Artists Related to Dave Mustaine (50)

	James Hetfield	In the early '80s, heavy metal was in danger of becoming a spandex-sporting/hairspray-soaked/makeup-smeared parody, but bands like Metallica brought metal back to its original, straight-ahead approach.
	The Great Kat	Guitar virtuoso the Great Kat was born Katherine Thomas in Swindon, England. After her family moved to Long Island, Thomas began studying music, taking up piano at age seven and violin two years later.
	Kirk Hammett	In the spring of 1983, Hammett received a phone call from the boys in Metallica -- which included singer/guitarist James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, and bassist Cliff Burton -- asking if he'd be interested in trying out for the band (their original guitarist, Dave Mustaine, was about to be booted due to erratic behavior).
	Yngwie Malmsteen	Yngwie Malmsteen is arguably the most technically accomplished hard rock guitarist to emerge during the '80s.
	Trey Azagthoth
	Denis D'amour
	Scott Ian	The main ingredient of Anthrax's sound is the group's crunchy guitar riffs, courtesy of Scott Ian. Funny enough, though, it has been drummer Charlie Benante who has penned the lion's share of Anthrax's music, but it's Scott who has been the lyric writer since early on.
	Kerry King
	Dan Spitz
	Nigel Tufnel
	Max Cavalera	Upon his exit from Sepultura in late 1996, singer/guitarist/songwriter Max Cavalera set out to form his next musical endeavor, the ultra-heavy Soulfly.
	Dimebag Darrell	While the majority of acclaimed hard rock guitarists of the early '90s focused primarily on songwriting rather than shredding away, there were a few exceptions to the rule, like Pantera's Dimebag Darrell.
	Buzz Osborne
	Criss Oliva
	Fieldy
	Eddie Van Halen	Second to only Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen was undoubtedly one of the most influential, original, and talented rock guitarists of the 20th century.
	Chroming Rose
	John Petrucci	Not all hard rock 'guitar heroes' that emerged during the late '80s-early '90s were instrumental solo artists, as evidenced by Dream Theater's John Petrucci.
	Slash	As the lead guitarist for Guns N' Roses, Slash established himself as one of hard rock's finest and most soulful soloists during the late '80s, technically adept yet always firmly grounded in the gritty Aerosmith and Stones licks he loved.
	Randy Rhoads	While the most dominating and influential heavy metal guitarist of the '80s would have to be Eddie Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne's original guitarist, Randy Rhoads, was one of the few guitarists of the era to create his own signature style.
	Ring of Fire
	Tony Iommi	Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi is one of only two guitarists (the other being Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page) that can take full credit for pioneering the mammoth riffs of heavy metal.
	Ace Frehley	Along with Eddie Van Halen, Kiss' Ace Frehley inspired numerous up-and-coming rockers to pick up the guitar in the 1970s -- and come the '90s, was listed by just about every contemporary rock guitarist (Soundgarden's Kim Thayil, Pearl Jam's Mike McCready, Pantera's Dimebag Darrell, etc.
	Noodles
	Greg Howe	Easton, PA's Greg Howe was a breath of fresh air amidst the seemingly never-ending stream of harmonic minor guitar virtuosos pouring forth from the Shrapnel Records label in the late '80s.
	Paul Gilbert	Metal guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert was born November 6, 1966 in Carbondale, IL and raised primarily in Greenburg, PA; he began playing music at age five, and by age 15 was not only touring local clubs with his band Tau Zero but was even spotlighted in Guitar Player magazine alongside fellow up-and-comer Yngwie Malmsteen.
	Tony MacAlpine	Progressive metal guitar virtuoso Tony MacAlpine began his musical education as a classically-trained pianist and violinist; his subsequent rock recordings retained a pronounced classical influence, incorporating elements of jazz and fusion as well.
	Dave Martone
	Paul Baloff	Singer Paul Baloff was one of the four original member of Exodus, arguably the first thrash metal band to appear in the California music scene.
	Madonna Wayne Gacy
	Stuart Hamm	Bassist Stuart Hamm made a name for himself largely due to his work in the ‘80s, when he accompanied two of hard rock's leading guitarists, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.
	Racer X	This Los Angeles band earned a reputation for melodic, technical, incredibly high-speed rock. Their original lineup featured Paul Gilbert (guitar), Jeff Martin (vocals), John Alderete (bass), and Harry Gschoesser (drums).
	BBM	Bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, former Cream bandmates, teamed up with guitarist Gary Moore in 1994 for Around the Next Dream, which recalled both their harder-rocking blues elements as well as their prog rock tendencies.
	Joe Stump
	John 5	Born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan and picking up a guitar at the tender age of seven, John Lowery was given the nickname John 5 the day he joined Marilyn Manson's band.
	Cat Rapes Dog
	Joe Cerisano	Joe Cerisano began performing professionally at the age of 14 and in the years since, has emerged as one of American music's most sought-after singer/songwriter producers.
	Blaze Bayley
	Darren Householder
	Haji's Kitchen	The hard-rocking band Haji's Kitchen was formed in Texas in 1993, and by the release of their debut two years later consisted of singer Eddie Ellis, guitarists Eddie Head and Brett Stine, bass player Derek Blakely, and drummer Rob Stankiewicz.
	Nuno
	Jeff Hanneman
	Josh Homme	Songwriter/guitarist Josh Homme has been part of two of the most acclaimed stoner rock/metal bands of the late '90s and early 2000s, Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age.
	Malcolm Young	His younger lead guitar-playing brother Angus may be the main attraction of AC/DC in concert, but rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young is the band's musical anchor.
	Lynch Mob	After Dokken broke up in 1989, George Lynch formed his own band, the Lynch Mob, with Dokken drummer Mick Brown.
	Vinnie Moore	Vinnie Moore is one of the most influencial and important guitarists to emerge out of the virtuoso boom in the mid to late eighties.
	Steve Vai	Six-string wizard Steve Vai, along with his one-time teacher Joe Satriani, set the standard for rock guitar virtuosity in the '80s.
	George Lynch	One of the most popular guitarists to emerge from '80s-era heavy metal was Dokken's George Lynch. With an arsenal of snazzy-looking guitars and speedy solos, Lynch helped propel Dokken toward the top of the charts for a spell (before interband tension broke up the group), and later, launched a solo career.
	The Last Resort
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