Megadeth Frontman Dave Mustaine Diagnosed with Throat Cancer

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Submitted by S.J. Mitchell on Tue, 06/18/2019 - 07:51

Lead singer and guitarist Dave Mustaine announced on the Megadeth website (then shared to twitter) that he was diagnosed with throat cancer.

While he states that his doctors have developed a treatment plan that will have a 90% success rate, it's still a very real and scary thing for someone whose career thrived off his unique vocal talents. You can read his official statement here.

Naturally, most of the shows on their current tour will need to be canceled, however, the 2019 Megacruise will happen and the band will still be a part of it in some form. It doesn't appear that the diagnosis will stop them from releasing a follow-up album to "Dystopia" so it's possible the vocals for that have already been recorded.

His announcement was short and to the point but he mentions how thankful he is for his "whole team", which is to include "family, doctors, band members, trainers, and more".

Since 1981, Dave Mustaine has been delivering killer chords and solos as the lead guitarist of Metallica but was fired from the band two years later. While Metallica survived, the distinct sound Mustaine brought to the band changed the "flavor" after he left. In 1983, shortly after his dismissal, Megadeth was co-founded by Mustaine and bassist David Ellefson and quickly became one of the big four of American "thrash metal" bands. In 1985 they released their debut album, "Killing Is My Business...and Business Is Good!" which led to a record deal with Capitol Records. That record deal led to their first major-label album, "Peace, Sells...but Who's Buying?" in 1986.

Since then, they've released 13 more studio albums with a sixteenth in production at the time of Mustaine's announcement. Their most recent album "Dystopia" won "Best Metal Performance" at the 2017 Loudwire Music Awards; showing that the band still has everything it takes to produce unrivaled metal hits. Dave Mustaine has battled many demons over his career and has beaten them all as he continues to rock with the best of them. We hope and pray that this becomes just another footnote in his long and storied career, and he'll come out on top once again.

We at Critical Blast wish Dave Mustaine all the best in his fight and send well wishes to his loved ones as they work through this difficult time. We hope that he endures and continues to make music for as long as he so chooses. Cancer is a scary thing and while there are a lot of advances in research that have allowed us to fight back, nothing is 100% guaranteed.

I’ve been diagnosed with throat cancer. It’s clearly something to be respected and faced head on - but I’ve faced obstacles before. I’m working closely with my doctors, and we’ve mapped out a treatment plan which they feel has a 90% success rate... https://t.co/8FBQUmloSf pic.twitter.com/CPuu2UFPv1

— Dave Mustaine (@DaveMustaine) June 17, 2019