‘80s Rock Legend Shuts Down Any Chance of Playing With Ex-Bandmates on Farewell Tour

Dave Mustaine has no plans to reunite with previous band members during Megadeth’s This Was Our Lifefarewell tour. The legendary thrash rocker told NME in a January 2026 interview that certain former bandmates would stay in the band’s past—for a variety of reasons.

“If we were to look at doing that [a reunion], then you’ve got some members that are deceased,”  Mustaine, 64, said. “You’ve got some members that I’m friends with, but they can’t play anymore like Chuck [Behler, Megadeth’s drummer from 1987–1989]. And then you’ve got a couple guys that are saying very bad things about me in the press. So why would I want to play with those guys?”

Mustaine noted that Megadeth did reunite with their 1990s guitarist, Marty Friedman, for a 2023 show at Budokan in Tokyo, but that it was a one-off session.

“We did this before with Marty,” he said, adding that he would only consider a cameo from an ex-bandmate if it was the right opportunity and timing. “But if it was something that didn’t end very well, why would I?” he said. “There’s not a valid reason to do something like that, especially when we have limited time on stage anyway.”

RELATED: ‘80s Rocker Calls Out Former Bandmates Amid Reunion Tours

Not a puppet show

In December, Mustaine told Guitar World he had no plans to invite former Megadeth members to play on the upcoming farewell tour.

“We’ve already done that with Marty,” he said. “And I mean, let’s look at the other people we’ve played with… there’s a lot of people. That would be a huge undertaking. 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.’”

Megadeth was formed in 1983 by Mustaine, guitarist Greg Handevidt, bassist Dave Ellefson, and drummer Richard Girod. There have been more than 40 musicians in the band’s 43-year history, including Friedman, David Ellefson, Nick Menza, Gar Samuelson, and Chris Poland. Mustaine has been the only consistent band member.

One-night reunion was a ‘no-brainer’

In December, Mustaine told Sirius XM’s Trunk Nation that it was impossible to bring back all of the surviving members of the band due to one ex’s trash-talking.

“Well, I can’t really do that, because of the behavior of one of the band members in the past. I just can’t — I can’t,”  he said, per Blabbermouth.net. “Because, first off, it would be unfair to the other band members if I didn’t play with them as well.”

“The thing about what we did with Marty in Japan, that was a no-brainer,” he clarified. “We had our separation, and he went his way, and we went our way. But it was a very, very intense relationship I had with Marty, because that was the first relationship I had with a guitar player.”

“My relationship with Chris [Poland] was really great, but it wasn’t as good as it was with Marty. My relationship with Jeff [Young] was good, but it wasn’t as good as it was with Marty,” he added. “And [I’m] just not gonna do anything that is gonna, in any way, seem unfair to the other band members.”

In 2024, Friedman told The Guardian that his one-night reunion with Megadeth was Mustaine’s idea.

“[Dave and I] love each other, but it was time for me to leave the band when I did,” Friedman admitted to the outlet. “The only piece of unfinished business that we had was Budokan. It was equally important for both of us because we’re both rock fans at heart – growing up with Cheap Trick at Budokan, and all our heroes who played there, we both wanted to play it together.”

“The show couldn’t have been any better, and to be completely honest, the band sounded better than when I was in it,” he added.

The This Was Our Life Tour, which kicks off on Feb. 15 in British Columbia, Canada, will be the last chance fans will have to see Megadeth play live.

Mustaine told Metal Hammer that the farewell tour is absolutely not a false alarm, unlike past announced final tours for Slayer and Motley Crue. “You see the scuttlebutt that is associated with bands like that. You know they never follow through with it and stick to their word,” the rocker said.

Mustaine did not rule out a future live album release for Megadeth.

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