Dave Mustaine links Megadeth farewell to hand condition at book launch
Dave Mustaine says a hand condition that affects his guitar playing sits behind Megadeth's decision to stop.
Speaking at the New York launch for his memoir In My Darkest Hour at the Kaufman Music Center, Mustaine told about 200 people that he has Dupuytren's contracture in his hand. Tendons have grown together and are pulling a finger down, he said, in comments captured on video by Rolling Stone.
He was blunt about what that means for a player. He has the option of surgery, and plans to finish the current tour and album support before reassessing what technology can do. He would not want to continue as a singer who no longer plays guitar. Playing is his love.
The launch, organised around the memoir, was moderated by Rolling Stone senior writer Kory Grow. The book deals with Mustaine's cancer treatment and remission, a period he has described as one of the most harrowing experiences of his adult life.
Megadeth announced in August 2025 that the band would retire after the release of the self-titled album Megadeth, according to Megadeth. The band said the record would be its last studio album and confirmed a global farewell tour on its official website. That album later debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200, the United States chart that converts sales and streams into album units.
Mustaine has said the band will not reverse the farewell plan. Tour listings on the band's website include a 27 September 2026 date at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles and a 29 September date at the Alamodome in San Antonio, with a European chapter titled Hibernation Of The Nations scheduled to start on 9 March 2027 in Belfast as a 24-date arena run.
He also closed down one obvious next step. He told the New York audience he had no interest in making a Dave Mustaine solo album, because it would simply be another Megadeth album by another name.
There is still unreleased material in the vault. Mustaine said a couple of completed songs remain from the last album sessions with bassist James LoMenzo, guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari and drummer Dirk Verbeuren. He did not say how or when they might be released.
For fans, this means the farewell is framed as physical and practical, not a dispute. The voice is willing. The hand may not be.
