Rob Zombie Team with Megadeth for Concert Tour : February 22, 2012

Rob Zombie and Megadeth will embark on a co-headlining tour this spring that, as Rob Zombie’s website puts it, is “guaranteed to raise the temperature on the planet.� [...]

Megadeth Announce Gigantour Dates with Motorhead : November 03, 2011

Dates have been announced for the fourth Gigantour, a traveling metal festival featuring Megadeth and other band’s chosen by Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine. The tou [...]

Metallica & Big 4 Book Follow-up Dates in India, Yankees Stadium : May 02, 2011

Metallica, after performing their first show in the U.S. last week in Indio, California as one of the Big Four, suggested there might be additional U.S. dates in the work [...]

Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Antrax Man the Stage at Big 4 Festival : January 25, 2011

Last week, the 2011 official lineup for Coachella Festival was announced, signaling that despite snow continuing to fall on a majority of the country, that the summer con [...]

Jagermeister Tour Signs on Slayer, Megadeath and Anthrax : August 16, 2010

Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer will be touring the US this fall for a month's worth of arena shows for the Jagermeister Music Tour's 17th edition. The three metal bands, [...]

Back Problems Sideline Slayer, Megadeath Tour : January 08, 2010

The head banging days of Tom Araya, frontman for Slayer, have finally caught up with not only him but his band as well. Due to the chronic back problems of Araya, the ba [...]

Slayer and Megadeth Wreck ‘Carnage’ on 2010 Tour : November 27, 2009

Metalheads Slayer were scheduled to make the rounds in Europe to close out the year, but those plans have been scraped as they join forces with Megadeath for a North Amer [...]

megadeth Biography

Heavy metal band Megadeth was formed in 1983 by expelled Metallica member Dave Mustaine. Mustaine was joined by bassist David Ellefson and Greg Handevidt on guitars to form Megadeth’s original line-up. At present, the band consists of Mustaine on lead vocals and guitars, Ellefson on bass and second vocals, Shawn Drover on drums and percussion, and Chris Broderick on guitar and second vocals. The band, along with Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer, are the pioneers of the thrash metal movement, a type of heavy metal rock that features upbeat tempo and strong, harsh and aggressive lyrics often focused on socio-political issues and idealistic and radical philosophies.

For almost thirty years, the band has released 13 albums, starting with 1985’s ‘Killing is My Business…and Business is Good!’ A combination of thrash metal and speed metal, which is faster (and sometimes hard to follow), brasher, and more intricately instrumented than thrash metal, ‘Business’ was critically raved but was panned at the charts. Their second album, ‘Peace Sells…but Who’s Buying?’ (1986), had better luck in sales, achieving platinum status in the US and Canada and was even described by Allmusic as "one of the most influential metal albums of its decade, and certainly one of the few truly definitive thrash albums." It spawned the iconic track ‘Peace Sells’, which received more than ample airplay on MTV and VH1 and was even named the latter’s 11th Greatest Metal Song of all time. The album is also the first for the band to be released under a major label, Capitol Records. ‘So Far, So Good…So What!’ hit the shelves in 1988 and was propelled by Megadeth’s multi-million record deal with Capitol, giving them both creative and financial flexibility. One of the set’s most memorable songs was ‘In My Darkest Hour’, which Mustaine dedicated to his former Metallica band mate Cliff Burton, who died of a vehicular accident in 1986. ‘So Far’ was also the band’s first top 40 hit, charting at no.28.

‘Rust in Peace’, Megadeth’s 1990 release, marked the band’s first album that they recorded in sobriety. The album’s popularity among fans and critics proved that Megadeth was becoming a force to reckon with in the thrash metal movement. The set spawned more iconic hits for the band such as ‘Holy Wars…The Punishment Due’ and ‘Hangar 18’, and also helped the group earn Grammy nods in 1991 and 1992 for Best Metal Performance. In 1992, the band released their first top 10 record ‘Countdown to Extinction’, which charted at no.2. Its title track earned the band a Doris Day Music Award in 1993, given by the Humane Society of the United States. They’re the only band so far to receive the distinction, due to the track tackling the issue of “species destruction and the horrific ‘sport’ of canned hunts.”

‘Youthanasia’, released in 1994, was Megadeth’s fastest selling album – it was gold certified in Canada and platinum certified in the US in only a matter of minutes. Continuing with its distribution partnership with Capitol Records, Megadeth released ‘Cryptic Writings’ in 1997 and a single from it, ‘Trust’, became the band’s most successful single in the charts, peaking at no.5. The release of 1999’s experimental set ‘Risk’ caused an uproar among longtime fans and even critics, as the album almost completely strayed away from its hardcore, heavy and thrash metal roots and featured electronic, club and house beats instead. ‘Risk’ also marks the last album to be released by Capitol as the label and the band ceased its partnership in 2000.

‘The World Needs a Hero’ was released in 2001 under the band’s new label, Sanctuary Records. The album was the band’s second studio effort that boasted of Mustaine’s writings after it was featured extensively for the first time in their debut album ‘Peace Sells’, as such, the album contains the original Megadeth sound that listeners – fans and critics alike - have come to love and have always expected.

After a brief, two-year disbandment due to Mustaine’s frequent hospitalization and injuries involving his kidneys and left arm, leaving him incapacitated to play almost any instrument, the band released ‘The System Has Failed’ in 2004. Just like 2001’s ‘Hero’, the album was said to be true to Megadeth’s form and identity and was praised by Revolver magazine as "Megadeth's most vengeful, poignant and musically complex offering since Countdown to Extinction,” even rating it with four out of four stars. The band followed it up with 2007’s ‘United Abominations’ which charted at no.8, 2009’s ‘Endgame’ which charted at no. 9, and their latest offering, 2011’s ‘Thirteen’, which peaked at no.11 at the Billboard 200.

Apart from being the founder of Megadeth and one of the proponents of the thrash music movement, Mustaine has also gained notoriety for his comments, material and performances which make strong references to his longstanding feud with his former Metallica band mates Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield. The dispute was fueled by Mustaine’s expulsion from the band due to his history of substance abuse which affected his attitude onstage and interaction with his band mates, resulting to creative and credit disputes over materials. At present, the guys have resolved their differences and have set all animosity aside. Mustaine and the rest of Megadeth also had longstanding rivalries with their thrash metal contemporaries Pantera, Suicidal Tendencies and Slayer. And even within the band, a serious rift was also apparent as Mustaine got involved in an $18.5 million lawsuit with Megadeth’s original and still current bassist Dave Ellefson, who complained that he received insufficient and an unjust share of the band’s profits from Mustaine, and that the latter was supposed to pass over control of Megadeth during the band’s separation in 2002, only to abruptly withdraw the plan.