DAVE MUSTAINE Confirms MEGADETH’s Final Tour Won’t Feature Former Members: “It’s Not Puppet Show MEGADETH”

Megadeth sent shockwaves through the metal world last year when Dave Mustaine confirmed that the band’s upcoming self-titled 17^th studio album — due later this month — will be their final release.

The album will mark several significant milestones. It will be Megadeth‘s only studio outing with guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari, who replaced Kiko Loureiro in 2023, and it will feature a high-profile cover of Metallica‘s “Ride the Lightning” — a song Mustaine co-wrote during his brief but pivotal tenure in Metallica in the early 1980s.

To support the record, Mustaine and the band will embark on a massive world tour celebrating both the new album and Megadeth‘s decades-spanning career. However, fans hoping for surprise reunions with Megadeth alumni may be disappointed.

In a new interview with Guitar World (via Guitar.com), the 64-year-old Mustaine was asked whether former Megadeth members might make guest appearances during the band’s farewell run. “We’ve already done that with Marty,” Mustaine said, referring to Marty Friedman‘s onstage appearances with the band in 2023. “And I mean, let’s look at the other people we’ve played with… there’s a lot of people.”

Mustaine made it clear that revisiting Megadeth‘s long and complicated lineup history isn’t something he’s interested in pursuing. “That would be a huge undertaking,” he said. “I don’t think I want to do that. I’d rather keep doing what we’re doing and let the fans experience Megadeth music and be happy about it. It’s not ‘puppet show Megadeth.'”

Elsewhere in the interview, Mustaine reflected on his longevity in thrash metal—something he doesn’t take for granted. “I wish I would have kept in touch with [late Megadeth drummer] Gar Samuelson,” he said. “Whenever stuff like that happens, I feel fortunate because I’m still kicking. But on the opposite side of the coin, I think, ‘Fuck… that could have been me.'”

For Mustaine, the decision to end Megadeth now is about timing, control, and gratitude. “There’s so many musicians that have come to the end of their career, whether accidental or intentional,” he said. “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.”