Mustaine has described his father as "a very smart and successful man, good with his hands and head" who was a branch manager for Bank of America before moving to NCR, where the corporation's transition from mechanical to electrical technology ultimately made him expendable and cost him his job.

A longtime problem drinker, John Mustaine's issues with alcohol only grew worse from then on, and he left his four-year-old son permanently after Emily divorced him in 1965.

[33] In his own words, Mustaine remembers his first meeting with James Hetfield and Ulrich: "I was in the room warming up and I walked out and asked, 'Well, am I gonna audition or what?

[34] On this bus ride Mustaine scribbled some lyrical ideas on the back of a hand bill, which later became the song "Set the World Afire" from the 1988 Megadeth album So Far, So Good...

[44] After stomping on the floor and shouting for them to stop, Mustaine, being hung over at the time, took a potted plant and threw it out of his window and hit the air conditioner of the apartment below.

"Hook in Mouth" attacked the Parents Music Resource Center with gusto, although their cover of the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the UK", despite a guest appearance from ex-Pistol Steve Jones, was ill-advised in the eyes of Allmusic's critic.

Nick Menza, who was Chuck Behler's drum tech, joined Megadeth in 1989, and the band recorded their only track ever as a three-piece: a cover of Alice Cooper's "No More Mr. Nice Guy" for the horror film Shocker.

[60] The tour began one month before Megadeth released Rust in Peace (1990), which was cited as one of the best thrash metal records of all time by publications such as Decibel and Kerrang!

[69] The original version of the "Symphony of Destruction" video was edited due to its depiction of a political leader being assassinated;[70] "Skin o' My Teeth" was aired on MTV with a disclaimer from Mustaine insisting that the song did not endorse suicide.

[72] Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies opened for Megadeth on the Countdown to Extinction tour, and MTV News also invited Mustaine to cover the Democratic National Convention for them that summer.

[74] In 1993, Mustaine guested on a new album by one of the bands who had influenced his own sound: Diamond Head, and also began a U.S. tour with Stone Temple Pilots as their opening act.

[75][76] The tour with Stone Temple Pilots which included a planned appearance at Budokan, was ultimately canceled due to Mustaine's continuing struggles with addiction.

[88] The "Evolver: The Making of Youthanasia" home video followed in May, and Hidden Treasures made it to the U.S. and Japan in July, just in time for the start of the "Reckoning Day" tour with special guests Flotsam and Jetsam, Korn and Fear Factory.

[89] Enlisting Fear singer Lee Ving, Mustaine released the album The Craving under the moniker "MD.45" with Suicidal Tendencies drummer Jimmy DeGrasso and Goldfinger bassist Kelly LeMieux.

[91][92] Cryptic Writings (1997) included thrashing songs like "Vortex" and "FFF", which were reminiscent of Megadeth's older material,[93][94] alongside radio-friendly fare like "Trust", which reached the 5th spot on the U.S.

[101][102] Two days after Nick Menza had undergone surgery for a benign knee tumor, he received a call from Mustaine informing him that his services would no longer be needed.

Mustaine left Jackson guitars, did a solo acoustic performance at a benefit show, unveiled his new ESP model at the NAMM convention, and oversaw the release of Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

Capitol released a new greatest hits, Back to the Start, in June, a month before Mustaine created "Gigantour" with Dream Theater, Anthrax, Fear Factory, Symphony X, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Life of Agony, and more.

The Dillinger Escape Plan frontman Greg Puciato stated: "He had a pastor walking around with him on tour and riding on his bus, I think to help keep him on the straight and narrow path.

On January 13, 2008, Dave Mustaine confirmed that guitarist Glen Drover had quit Megadeth to focus on his family and that he had been replaced by Chris Broderick of Jag Panzer.

"[119] Megadeth embarked on a Rust in Peace 20th-anniversary tour, playing the album in its entirety, along with fan favorites such as "Wake Up Dead", "In My Darkest Hour" and "Skin O' My Teeth".

[127] Lineup changes included the departure of lead guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover, both of whom departed the band in late November 2014, both citing creative differences.

[150] In June in an interview with WRIF's Mark "Meltdown" Milligan, Mustaine commented that work on the followup to Dystopia would begin soon, with recording to start around "November, December of this year".

[151] The band would embark on several European shows in August, with Megadeth headlining the Wacken Open Air festival in Germany alongside Volbeat, Accept, and Alice Cooper.

[153] Megadeth also performed at that year's Summer Breeze Open Air festival, where Nuclear Blast celebrated their label's 30th anniversary, with the band co-headlining with Korn, Amon Amarth, Kreator and Heaven Shall Burn.

It spanned six weeks and was co-headlined by Megadeth and Dream Theater, with a variety of other supporting metal acts such as Fear Factory and the Dillinger Escape Plan.

In March 2009, while he was guest hosting Bruce Dickinson's Friday night radio show, Mustaine attributed his choice of the Flying V guitar to being a fan of UFO's Michael Schenker when he was growing up.

[175] In 2022, Mustaine switched from using a Fractal Axe-FX to a Neural DSP Quad Cortex on tour for his amp tones, sending the signal to a Seymour Duncan PowerStage poweramp and then to on-stage speaker cabinets.

'[191]However, in 2016, Mustaine noted that Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler's suggestion of re-recording the song with modified lyrics made him consider playing "The Conjuring" again, "as long as it doesn't hurt anybody".

[201] In an August 2012 Singapore performance on the tour to support the band's then-new album Thirteen, Mustaine expressed his views of President Obama and recent gun violence in the United States, making an accusation that Obama had staged the shootings at Aurora, Colorado, and a Wisconsin Sikh temple in order to push a gun control agenda, while engaging the audience during onstage banter in between songs.