Dave Mustaine was born in La Mesa California in 1961. Following his parents divorce, he lived alone aged 15 in a shared flat, dealing drugs to survive. Around this time, he started listening to heavy rock such as Judas Priest and Motorhead and began to learn the electric guitar, going on to join a band called Panic.
In 1981 after answering an ad for a lead guitarist in the local paper, Dave Mustaine joined Metallica. Although rated by the band as a good guitarist his heavy drinking and drug taking made him unpredictable and downright dangerous. The final straw was when Dave Mustaine poured beer over Ron McGovney’s bass guitar, causing an electric shock that knocked McGovney across the room. Dave Mustaine was then asked to leave the band. Although Dave Mustaine never recorded with Metallica, the band later used a couple of his songs.
Wanting to create a band more successful than Metallica, Dave Mustaine founded Megadeth. The early days of the band created more controversy, this time with Kerry King who walked out to concentrate on his career with Slayer. This started a long standing feud between the two. However, Megadeth released their first album Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good! in 1985. After touring and then being signed to Capitol records, Megadeth released a second album Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? in 1986.
Megadeth continued throughout the 1980s and 1990s, releasing albums and touring extensively. They became one of the best-known thrash metal acts. The line up was changed throughout the years but the band remained at the top of their game. Unfortunately Dave Mustaine’s drug addiction and alcoholism continued to cause problems both professionally and personally and he has signed into rehab approximately 15 times with no visible improvement.
In 2003 Dave Mustaine was taking an enforced break from the band because of an arm injury. It was around this time he became a Christian which has helped him clean up his addictions.
In 2004 Dave Mustaine was rated number 19 in the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists Of All Time and in 2009 he was rated as number 1 in the book 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists written by Joel McIver.
Megadeth have released 12 studio albums as well as 4 live albums and 5 compilation albums. Their most successful period in terms of sales was between 1986 and 1999 with many releases going to gold or platinum. The most recent album was Rust In Peace Live released September 2010.
Dave Mustaine has written his own autobiography, published in August 2010 titled “Hello Me… Meet the Real Me, Mustaine: A Life in Metal”.