A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer. Although songwriters of the past commonly composed, arranged and played their own songs, more recently the pressure to produce popular hits has tended to distribute responsibility between a number of people. Popular culture songs may be written by group members, but are now often written by staff writers: songwriters directly employed by music publishers.

Some songwriters serve as their own music publishers, while others have outside publishers.

The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs is being supplemented by some universities and colleges and rock schools. A knowledge of modern music technology and business skills are seen as necessary to make a songwriting career, and music colleges offer songwriting diplomas and degrees with music business modules.

Since songwriting and publishing royalties can be a substantial source of income, particularly if a song becomes a hit record, legally, in the US, songs written after 1934 may only be copied or performed publicly by permission of the authors. The legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or transferred. This is governed by international copyright law.

Professional songwriters can either be employed to write directly for or alongside a performing artist, or they pitch songs to A&R;, publishers, agents and managers for consideration. Song pitching can be done on a songwriter's behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like "RowFax", the MusicRow publication, and SongQuarters.

The staff writer

Songwriters signed to an exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher are known as "staff writers". Being a staff-writer effectively means that during the term of a songwriter's contract with a publisher, all their songs are automatically published by the company to which they signed, and cannot be published elsewhere.

In the Nashville country music scene there is a strong staff writer culture where contracted writers work normal "9-to-5" hours at the publishing office and are paid a regular salary. This salary is in effect the writer's 'draw', an advance for future earnings paid on a monthly basis so they are able to live on it. The copyright of the songs written during the term of the agreement is owned by the publisher for designated period, after which the copyright can be reclaimed.

Staff writers are common across the whole industry, but without the more office-like working arrangements favoured in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract. A staff writer contract with a publisher is a natural first step for any professional songwriting career, with some writers outgrowing the set-up once they achieve a degree of success and a desire for greater independence. Songwriter Allan Eshuijs described his staff writer contract at Universal Music Publishing as a "starter deal", the success from which eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company so that he could "keep as much [publishing] as possible and say how it’s going to be done."

References

Further reading

Rimler, Walter Not Fade Away Pierian Press (1984) ISBN 0-87650-159-5

Waterman, J. Douglas, Ed. Song: The World's Best Songwriters on Creating the Music That Moves Us Writer's Digest (2007) ISBN 1-58297-424-1

Category:Songwriters Category:Occupations in music

Name	Roger Hodgson
Landscape	Yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Charles Roger Pomfret Hodgson
Born	March 21, 1950
Origin	Portsmouth, England
Instrument	Vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass
Genre	Progressive rock, pop rock, art rock
Occupation	Musician, songwriter
Years active	1969 - present
Label	A&M;, Unichord/Voiceprint, Epic
Associated acts	Supertramp, Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band
Url	RogerHodgson.com

Charles Roger Pomfret Hodgson (born 21 March 1950) is a British musician and songwriter, best known as the co-lead vocalist (with Rick Davies), and one of the founding members of, the progressive rock band Supertramp.

Biography

1950–1969: Early years

Hodgson began playing guitar at a very young age. His first guitar was a parting gift from his father at age 12 when his parents divorced. He took it to boarding school with him, where his teacher taught him three chords. Right away he began composing his own music and lyrics and within a year gave his first concert at school with nine original songs. Roger's first band at school consisted of him on guitar and his buddy Roy playing snare drums. They were dubbed the "H-bombs" because of their last names, which were “Hodgson” and “Hoby.” Interestingly enough, the only encore was for a non-original cover of "Bachelor Boy" a hit for Cliff Richard in 1964.

At age 19, Roger Hodgson had just released his first single, under the name Argosy, accompanied by session musician Reg Dwight, who later became known as Elton John. Very soon after, in 1969, Hodgson, along with Rick Davies, co-founded the progressive rock band Supertramp.

1969–1983: Supertramp

Songs on the first album "Supertramp", released in 1970, were composed by Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies, with Richard Palmer writing the lyrics. From "Indelibly Stamped", released in 1971, and onward, Hodgson and Davies were the band’s lyricists and composers. The hugely successful Crime of the Century was released in 1974. Crisis? What Crisis?, released in 1975, was followed by Even in the Quietest Moments in 1977. In 1979, they released their most successful album, Breakfast in America. This album has sold over 20 million copies to date. The live album, Paris, was released in 1980, with Famous Last Words being released in 1982.

Through 1983, all songs recorded by Supertramp were legally credited with a shared writing credit of Davies/Hodgson. The person who sang the song is the one who wrote and composed it. Roger Hodgson was the writer of hits such as "The Logical Song", "Dreamer", "Give a Little Bit", "Breakfast in America", "It's Raining Again", "Take the Long Way Home" and "Fool's Overture".

Hodgson had been the major songwriter and singer in Supertramp, solely composing and writing 8 of their 10 biggest hits. When he was with Supertramp, he would make a demo of the complete song while alone and then bring it to the band so that they could learn their parts. Roger presented his songs to the band in this way so that the songs were finished and therefore not changed by additions or suggestions regarding the lyrics or music. Hodgson wrote some of his most popular songs like "Breakfast in America", "The Logical Song", and some of "Fool's Overture" at home with a harmonium he had bought from a neighbour when he was 17 years old (this instrument is used in the background of "Breakfast in America", and prominently appears on "Two of Us" and his solo track "The Garden").

1984–present: Solo career

Roger was with the band for 14 years before leaving in 1983. There was much speculation behind the reasons why Roger Hodgson left Supertramp. In an interview, Hodgson stated that the reason he left the band was to spend time with his two small children. At the time of his departure from Supertramp, Hodgson stated that one of the reasons that he and the other band members grew apart was that Hodgson's drug use had caused a rift within the band. In Rolling Stone Magazine, Hodgson stated that "Taking acid was definitely a life-changing experience. It led me in a direction [Rick] couldn't understand or share." He left Los Angeles and moved his family to Northern California where he built a home studio and produced several successful solo albums.

Hodgson's first solo album, In the Eye of The Storm contained the singles "Had a Dream (Sleeping with the Enemy)" and "In Jeopardy". His second album, 1987's Hai Hai, had a distinctive synthpop-oriented feel, in the vein of the mid-80s trends, but it also maintains a songwriting style true to Hodgson's standards. However, just prior to the release of Hai Hai, Hodgson fell from a loft in his home and broke both wrists, which disabled him from successfully promoting the album. He also took a long break from both touring and recording.

In 1990, Hodgson was approached by Yes to take the lead singer position after Jon Anderson had left to record and tour with ABWH. Hodgson enjoyed working with the group but declined the offer, saying it was unwise to attempt to pass off the music as Yes. One of the songs he co-wrote with Trevor Rabin, "Walls", was released in 1994 on Yes' Talk album, with lyrics revised by Anderson. A version of "Walls" with only Hodgson and Rabin on vocals can be found on Trevor Rabin's 2003 archival release 90124.

After a long break, he launched into his first tour since 1984 and released 1997's live Rites of Passage to document the tour. The live album was recorded at the Miners Foundry in Nevada City, California. He performed with a full band including his son Andrew, and Supertramp sax player John Helliwell. He then embarked on his first world solo tour in 1998.

Hodgson played King Arthur in the rock opera Excalibur: La Legende Des Celtes, and appeared on the album for two songs: "The Elements," and "The Will of God." The project was headed by Alan Simon and released in 1999.

In 2000, Hodgson contributed vocals on a track titled "The Moon Says Hello" by Carlos Núñez, on the CD Mayo Longo.

Hodgson's third solo effort Open the Door was released in 2000 and continued in the vein of his previous work. He collaborated again with Alan Simon on the album. In August 2000, Hodgson guested with Fairport Convention at that years Cropredy Festival. He performed "Breakfast In America", "The Logical Song", "Open The Door" and "Give A Little Bit".

In 2001, Hodgson toured as a member of the All-Starr Band in 2001, playing lead guitar, and has since collaborated with Trevor Rabin (who appears on the track "The More I Look" on Open the Door) and Ringo Starr.

Hodgson is still giving concerts, often playing alone, but from time to time he is joined by other musicians or has a full orchestra accompanying him. He has taken part in the Night of the Proms concert series in Belgium and Germany in late 2004, as well as the rock festival, Bospop in 2005.

In May 2006, Roger Hodgson was honoured by ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) in recognition of his song Give A Little Bit being one of the most played songs in the ASCAP repertoire in 2005.

On 30 November 2005, he held his first concert in England in over twenty years, at Shepherd's Bush, London. While that performance was filmed and scheduled for a DVD release, the plan was scrapped. Instead, the concert recorded at the Place Des Arts in Montreal, Canada on 6 June 2006 was his first DVD, released on 22 August 2006, entitled Take The Long Way Home - Live In Montreal. In October 2006, the DVD was certified multi-platinum by the CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association).

Hodgson participated as a mentor on Canadian Idol along with Dennis DeYoung. He continued mentoring several of the finalists during his 2006 Canadian Tour.

Hodgson performed at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium , UK on 1 July 2007. He sang a medley of his most popular songs: "Dreamer", "The Logical Song", "Breakfast in America" and "Give A Little Bit".

On 18 September 2007, Eagle Vision released the DVD Take The Long Way Home - Live In Montreal worldwide, achieving gold in Germany and France.

On 9 April 2008, Hodgson received an ASCAP award for the Gym Class Heroes' song "Cupid's Chokehold", recognised as being one of the most played songs in ASCAPs repertoire from the fourth quarter 2006 through to the fourth quarter of 2007.

Though Hodgson's former bandmates in Supertramp announced a 40th Anniversary reunion tour, he was not invited to join them. The agreement between Hodgson and Davies upon Hodgson's departure from the band was that Davies would keep the band’s name, Supertramp, while Hodgson would keep his songs in order to carry on as an artist. Another important component of this agreement was that Davies would no longer perform any songs written and composed by Hodgson. Davies has performed Hodgson's songs on every tour since the latter's depature, and this led to the departure of bassist Dougie Thompson out of principle.

Hodgson toured the US, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Europe, and Canada on his own 2010 World Tour, whilst Davies mainly concentrated on touring around Europe during Supertramp's 40th anniversary tour. Both Hodgson and Supertramp released live versions of their tour material on download only on their websites. Hodgson is again planning a worldwide tour in 2011 and has released some dates on his website and facebook page.

Trivia

Before joining Supertramp, Hodgson recorded a single in 1969 under the name "Argosy". The sole single, "Mr. Boyd" b/w "Imagine", was issued on the DJM (U.K.) and Congress (U.S) record labels, and remains quite rare and sought after. Musically, it's a bit more pop and slightly psychedelic compared to his work with Supertramp, but it's instantly recognisable as being Hodgson. Other musicians on the record were Caleb Quaye - guitar, Nigel Olsson - drums, and Reginald Dwight (better known as Elton John) - piano. "Mr. Boyd" was covered in 1997 by Jake Shillingford and his band My Life Story on their album "The Golden Mile".

There are at least four versions of the song "Land Ho". The first version was an early demo which was then edited and recorded as a "B" side of the song "Summer Romance" - a single that was released in 1973 when the most popular version of Supertramp came to be, a third version which was yet another edit and was a contender for Supertramp's "Crisis What Crisis?" in 1975 but never included on the album and released on The Supertramp Anthology - A Retrospectacle, and finally, the version that "introduced" the song to most fans on Hodgson's second solo album Hai Hai in 1987.

Discography

''For his work with Supertramp, see Supertramp discography between 1969 and 1982

References

External links

Official website

Official Facebook page

Official Twitter page

rogerhodgson.co.uk - UK Fansite

Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:English male singers Category:English songwriters Category:English rock guitarists Category:English keyboardists Category:People from Portsmouth Category:Old Stoics Category:Supertramp members Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:Ivor Novello Award winners

Name	Dennis DeYoung
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Dennis DeYoung
Born	February 18, 1947 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genre	Rock, progressive rock
Instrument	Vocals, keyboards, accordion
Occupation	Musician, songwriter
Years active	1962–present
Associated acts	Styx (1970-1999)
Url	http://www.dennisdeyoung.com/

Dennis DeYoung (born February 18, 1947, Chicago, Illinois) is an American singer, songwriter, musician and producer best known for being a founding member of the rock band Styx, a tenure which lasted from 1970 to 1999.

Early life

Growing up in the Roseland neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, DeYoung's career as a vocalist started in 1961 at the age of 14 when he teamed up with his 13 year old neighbors, Chuck and John Panozzo, in a three-piece combo. The trio later added guitarist James Young and John Curulewski to form the band Tradewinds in the late 1960s. The band renamed itself TW4 in 1968 before becoming Styx in 1970.

On January 18, 1970, DeYoung married his longtime sweetheart, Suzanne Feusi, to whom he is still married. The couple have two children, Carrie Ann and Matthew. Unlike many musical families, the growing family toured together throughout DeYoung's career in order to provide stability for the couple's young children.

Before the band met with success, DeYoung spent time as an elementary school teacher in the southern suburbs of Chicago, where he taught music at Springfield School in Midlothian, Illinois. During this period, the band played a number of small venues and school auditoriums refining their craft before the song "Lady" propelled them to national then international stardom.

Tenure with Styx

Within Styx, DeYoung acted as lead vocalist, keyboardist, accordion player, producer, writer and creative force behind many of the band's hit songs. A self-taught keyboardist, DeYoung quickly became one of the most notable players of that instrument in rock. Featured on the cover of the January 1981 issue of Contemporary Keyboard magazine (a story that was reprinted in Contemporary Keyboard's book on the greatest rock keyboardists), DeYoung described many of his steps along the way through his keyboard-playing career: He'd never played an acoustic piano until the recording session for 1972's "Lady"; he recorded the track for 1979's "Babe" in a friend's basement on a Rhodes electric piano he'd never touched before; the odd feeling of switching back to playing accordion for the song "Boat On The River" and discovering how small the keys felt to his fingers after years of playing electric organs and pianos.

As a keyboardist in Styx, DeYoung was best remembered for his prominent lead synthesizer solos performed on the Oberheim synthesizer that dominated the mix with a unique tone, a key element of the Styx sound. DeYoung pioneered the use of synthesizers in rock and roll. Influenced by the recent release of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's first album, DeYoung — a novice synthesizer player at the time — used a modular Moog to record the keyboard tracks for the first Styx album. This album featured a rock version of "Fanfare for the Common Man", more than 5 years before ELP came up with a similar idea of recording this classical composition as a rock band featuring the synthesizer that would later become one of ELP's best known recordings.

DeYoung's songs often had a grandiose style to them in the tradition of 1970s theatrical rock, which heavily influenced the group's direction in the late 1970s, culminating in the concept albums Paradise Theatre (1981) and Kilroy Was Here (1983). The dissent of some members in the band during Kilroy brought tensions between the group's members over the future direction of the band, leading to guitarist Tommy Shaw's departure in 1984.

Solo career

With Styx in limbo following Shaw's 1984 departure, DeYoung began a solo career of modest success. His first solo album, Desert Moon, generated a top 10 hit, "Desert Moon", and the follow-up single, "Don't Wait for Heroes", cracked the Billboard Top 100 as well. Desert Moon was certified gold in Canada in 1984.

It was followed by albums Back to the World (1986), which contained the song "This Is the Time", featured on Karate Kid II, and Boomchild (1988), which received a fair amount of music video airplay.

In 1990, Styx (minus Tommy Shaw, who was replaced by guitarist/singer-songwriter Glen Burtnik) returned to the studio for the album Edge of the Century. "Show Me the Way", a track written by DeYoung for his son Matthew, received extensive radio play, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart (Styx's 8th top 10 single, and 7th written and sung by DeYoung) particularly after a number of radio stations mixed it with voice tracks of parents headed off to fight in the first Persian Gulf War. This success made the band one of only a handful of bands/artists to have a top ten single under four different Presidents in the United States. The group toured North America extensively before A&M; Records (which had just merged with PolyGram Records) dropped the group from its roster in 1992; the group broke up again shortly afterwards.

Between stints with Styx in 1993, DeYoung, a devout Roman Catholic, joined a touring revival of the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar. He appeared in about 200 performances across North America as Pontius Pilate. The experience inspired him to record his 1994 album of Broadway standards, 10 on Broadway, and to begin work on a musical of his own based on The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Styx reunited once more in 1995, this time including Shaw but now without a terminally ill John Panozzo (who died a short time later in July 1996), and recorded a new version of the DeYoung-penned "Lady" for their 1995 Styx Greatest Hits album. The group toured in 1996 and 1997, and returned to the recording studio in 1998 to begin work on Brave New World, their first studio album in nearly a decade.

Departure from Styx through 2010

Creative differences between the band members, and a chronic fatigue syndrome-like disorder affecting DeYoung's trigeminal nerve—which left him overly sensitive to bright light and sound, making performing on stage nearly impossible—led to DeYoung being replaced by Canadian star Lawrence Gowan in 1999. A lawsuit between DeYoung and his former bandmates was settled in 2001, with the group being allowed to keep the name "Styx" and DeYoung able to use the name in descriptive phrases such as "the music of Styx" or "formerly of Styx" (but not "the voice of Styx"). When asked about any possible reunions with DeYoung, James Young of Styx commented on an edition of Behind the Music "maybe when they are playing hockey on the river Styx" and on an episode of VH1's Feuds 2000 "as The Eagles said 'when Hell freezes over'". However, in 2007, when asked about the possibility of DeYoung returning to Styx, Chuck Panozzo told tampabay.com, "Before any more of us die, I would hope that it could happen. Every year that it doesn't happen is another year that goes by. And if you wait too long, who will care?"

In February 2000, DeYoung was approached to perform a concert featuring his many songs from Styx, as well as his solo works and his 1997 stage musical The Hunchback of Notre Dame, with an orchestra. The show, performed at the Rosemont Theatre in DeYoung's hometown of Chicago, was a family affair for DeYoung. His wife Suzanne and sister-in-law Dawn Marie Feusi sang backup, his daughter Carrie Ann was in charge of publicity, while his son Matthew designed the stage lighting. The concert was well received and formed the basis for a touring version of the show, and eventually an 2004 album, The Music of Styx - Live with Symphony Orchestra.

Healthy once again, DeYoung returned to touring North America with a 50-piece orchestra augmented by a five-piece rock band which included Tommy Dziallo on guitar, Hank Horton on bass, and Kyle Woodring (from John Mellencamp and Deana Carter) on drums, all of whom also played shows with DeYoung with or without the orchestra.

DeYoung made his major motion picture debut in 2005's The Perfect Man, in which he played the lead vocalist in a Styx tribute band.

On April 20, 2006, at the Community Theatre in Morristown, New Jersey, DeYoung took to the stage once again with former Styx member Glen Burtnik as part of his Lost Treasures concert series. It marked the first time in nearly seven years the two had appeared together. On his website, DeYoung jokingly dubbed the performances "The Denny and Glenny Show." While on stage, the duo opened with the Beatles classic "We Can Work It Out" and also performed "Watching The World Go By", and "All For Love", songs that were originally written for the unreleased Edge of the Century 2 album.

On September 14 and 15, 2006, DeYoung appeared with Hal Sparks on Celebrity Duets, a show produced by Simon Cowell. They sang "Come Sail Away" and "Mr. Roboto." DeYoung was invited back to perform on Celebrity Duets on September 28, 2006 with finalist Hal Sparks. The pair performed the Styx breakthrough hit "Lady" written by DeYoung in 1973, with DeYoung serenading his wife Suzanne in the audience while Hal did the same for his long-time girlfriend.

On June 19, 2007, DeYoung released in Canada his fifth solo album, One Hundred Years from Now marking a return to his rock roots. The first single, the title track, was a duet with Québécois singer Éric Lapointe. The single reached #1 on the Québec Radio Single and Soundscan charts. The album was released in the U.S. on April 14, 2009 with slightly different tracks.

On New Year's Eve 2007, he performed "Mr. Roboto", "Come Sail Away" and many other classics to a large audience at Victoria Park in Niagara Falls, Canada, and millions of viewers via live television on CHTV Channel 11. Following his concert he did a brief live interview with CHTV's Mat Hayes.

On May 8, 2008, the long-awaited stage debut of DeYoung's musical version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame premiered at the Bailiwick Repertory Theatre in Chicago.

On September 20, 2008, DeYoung performed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame benefit concert for the John Entwistle foundation. The benefit concert was held at the Koka Booth Amphitheater in Cary, North Carolina and featured many other rock and roll musicians. He and his band performed many of Styx's hits.

On July 12, 2009, DeYoung was honored by his native Chicago with the "Great Performer of Illinois Award." Following the award ceremony in the Frank Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park in Chicago, DeYoung and his band performed many of Styx's hits in a free concert.

On October 13, 2009, DeYoung's sound creation the "ARF 2600" was given its world premiere at the opening of The 101 Dalmatians Musical in Minneapolis, MN.

Discography

Styx

Studio albums

Styx (1972)

Styx II (1973)

The Serpent Is Rising (1973)

Man of Miracles (1974)

Equinox (1975)

Crystal Ball (1976)

The Grand Illusion (1977)

Pieces of Eight (1978)

Cornerstone (1979)

Paradise Theatre (1981)

Kilroy Was Here (1983)

Edge of the Century (1990)

Brave New World (1999)

Live albums

Caught in the Act (1984)

Return to Paradise (1997)

Compilation albums

Best of Styx (1980)

Styx Classics Volume 15 (1987)

Styx Greatest Hits (1995)

Styx Greatest Hits Part 2 (1996)

Come Sail Away - The Styx Anthology (2004)

The Complete Wooden Nickel Recordings (2005)

Solo

Studio albums

Desert Moon (1984)

Back to the World (1986)

Boomchild (1989)

10 on Broadway (1994)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1998)

One Hundred Years from Now (2007/2009)

Live albums

The Music of Styx - Live with Symphony Orchestra (2004)

Compilation albums

The Ultimate Collection (1999)

Video

Caught in the Act (1984)

Return to Paradise (1997)

Dennis DeYoung - Soundstage (2003)

Symphonic Rock Music of Styx (2003)

The Best of Styx - 20th Century Masters (2004)

The Best of Dennis DeYoung - 20th Century Masters (2005)

Other appearances

Music written by DeYoung has been featured in the following films:

Kilroy Was Here (1983)

''The Karate Kid, Part II (1986)

The Virgin Suicides (1999)

Big Daddy (1999)

Detroit Rock City (1999)

Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)

Shrek 2 (2004)

The Perfect Man (2005)

Music either written by DeYoung or performed by him has been featured in the following stage productions:

"Pilate and Jesus" (Jesus Christ Superstar) (1993) (Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber; Lyrics: Tim Rice)

"Pilate's Dream" (Jesus Christ Superstar) (1993) (Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber; Lyrics: Tim Rice)

The debut of The Hunchback of Notre Dame in May 2008 brought DeYoung's music and songs to the theatrical stage, finally made its stage debut in Chicago, Illinois in May 2008.

Music written by DeYoung has also been featured in television shows and commercials. Among the more notable are:

The Simpsons

My Name is Earl

Arrested Development

That '70s Show

Freaks and Geeks

Dharma and Greg

ER

Chuck

King of Queens

Sex and the City

South Park

Family Guy

The Office

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

References

External links

Dennis DeYoung official website

Dennis DeYoung fan site

Interview with Dennis DeYoung

Category:Living people Category:People with chronic fatigue syndrome Category:1947 births Category:American people of Dutch descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:Musicians from Chicago, Illinois Category:American male singers Category:American rock singers Category:American tenors Category:American rock pianists Category:American rock keyboardists Category:American keyboardists Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American pianists Category:American pop pianists Category:American pop singers Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:Styx members

Name	Dave Mustaine
Landscape	Yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	David Scott Mustaine
Born	September 13, 1961 La Mesa, CA, USA
Instrument	Guitar, vocals, piano
Occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter, producer, actor, author
Genre	Thrash metal, heavy metal, hard rock, speed metal
Years active	1981–2002 2004–present
Personal life	daughter Elektra Mustaine, son Justis Mustaine
Label	Loud Records, Combat, Capitol, Sanctuary, Roadrunner
Associated acts	Megadeth, Metallica, MD.45, Panic
Url	Megadeth official website
Notable instruments	Jackson King V Signature modelESP DV8 Signature modelVarious Dean VMNT Signature modelOvation Dave Mustaine Signature Model Viper

David Scott "Dave" Mustaine (born September 13, 1961 in La Mesa, California, USA) is the lead and rhythm guitarist, founder, main songwriter, and lead vocalist for the American heavy metal band Megadeth. Mustaine was also the first lead guitarist and co-songwriter of Metallica until he was discharged from the band in 1983. In 2009 he was ranked No. 1 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists. Mustaine was also ranked eighty-ninth by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All Time. He is also the manager for the Canadian band Baptized in Blood.

History

Mustaine was born on September 13, 1961 in La Mesa, California, to Emily and John Mustaine. His mother was Jewish and his father was Christian. When his parents divorced, he spent much of his youth with his mother and sisters moving constantly to avoid contact with his father. By the age of 15, Mustaine had rented his own apartment and was surviving financially by dealing drugs. One of his clients was often short of cash, but worked in a record store, so she offered him albums by artists such as Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Motörhead and Judas Priest in trade,

Mustaine's membership in Metallica would last less than two years. Brian Slagel, owner of Metal Blade Records, recalls in an interview: "Dave was an incredibly talented guy, but he also had an incredibly large problem with alcohol and drugs. He'd get wasted and become a real crazy person, a raging maniac, and the other guys just couldn't deal with that after a while. I mean, they all drank of course, but Dave drank more...much more. I could see they were beginning to get fed up of seeing Dave drunk out of his mind all the time."

On one occasion Mustaine brought his dog to rehearsal. The dog jumped up onto the car of Metallica bassist Ron McGovney and scratched the paint. Hetfield allegedly proceeded to yell at Mustaine's dog and kicked it in anger. Mustaine responded by physically attacking Hetfield and McGovney and yelling at Ulrich. Mustaine was fired following the altercation. The next day, Mustaine asked to be allowed back in the band and was granted his request. Another incident occurred when Mustaine, who had been drinking, poured a full can of beer down the neck and into the pick-ups of Ron McGovney's bass. When McGovney tried playing it, he received an electrical shock which he claims 'blew him across the room and shocked the hell out of him'. McGovney then told Mustaine and Hetfield to leave his house and left the band shortly after.

On April 11, 1983, after Metallica had driven to New York to record their debut album, Mustaine was officially fired from the band because of his alcoholism, hard drug abuse, overly aggressive behavior, and personality clashes with founding members Hetfield and Ulrich — an incident Mustaine refers to as "no warning, no second chance". The band packed up Mustaine's gear, drove him to a Greyhound bus station in Rochester, NY, and put him on a bus bound for Los Angeles. In November, the band signed a deal with Combat Records and headed off to tour.

In May 1985, Megadeth released their first album, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!, on Combat Records. That summer, the band toured the U.S. and Canada with Exciter. Guitarist Mike Albert replaced Chris Poland for the tour, as Poland had left the band shortly before; however, he rejoined the band in October, and the band then began recording their second studio album for Combat. On New Year's Eve of that year, Megadeth played in San Francisco with Exodus, Metal Church, and Metallica.

In 1986, after recording Killing Is My Business..., Mustaine approached Jackson Guitars for a custom-built guitar. Jackson modified their existing Jackson King V model for Mustaine by adding 2 more frets to the standard 22 fret King V. In the 1990s the company began mass-producing a Dave Mustaine signature series Jackson King V which continued into the early 2000s.

The following year, major label Capitol Records signed Megadeth and obtained the rights to their second album, Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?, from Combat. Megadeth opened a U.S. tour with King Diamond and Motörhead. This album, released in November, is regarded as a landmark metal album. It produced the notable title track (the opening bass lick of which was used by "MTV News" segments) as well as the thrash anthem "Wake Up Dead." The videos for both songs became staples on MTV's Headbanger's Ball.

In February 1987, Megadeth opened for Alice Cooper on his Constrictor tour. The band also toured with King Diamond whose previous band, Mercyful Fate, were a huge influence on Megadeth. In March, Megadeth's first world tour began in the U.K. Mustaine and Ellefson guested on the band Malice's License To Kill album. Megadeth re-recorded "These Boots" for a movie soundtrack, and that summer went on tour with Overkill and Necros. Amid drug problems and suspicions of stealing the band's equipment and pawning it for drug money, Mustaine fired Poland and Samuelson after their last show in Hawaii.

Chuck Behler, who had been Samuelson's drum tech, became Megadeth's new drummer with a guitarist named Jeff Young replacing Poland. Megadeth released their third album, So Far, So Good... So What!, in January 1988. The album contains the song "In My Darkest Hour", which, according to the liner notes of So Far, So Good... So What!, was composed after the death of Metallica's bass player Cliff Burton, despite the lyrics having nothing to do with Burton. "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.

Later that year, Megadeth opened for Dio and then Iron Maiden on tour before playing the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington in the U.K. with Kiss, Iron Maiden, Guns N' Roses, David Lee Roth, and Helloween. Shortly after, Mustaine fired Behler and Young, accusing Young of having thoughts of a relationship with Mustaine's then-girlfriend Diana. Around this period, Mustaine found the time to produce the debut album from Seattle thrash band Sanctuary, called Refuge Denied.

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 Wes Craven-directed horror flick, Shocker. Video director Penelope Spheeris would later recount in the Megadeth episode of Behind The Music that Mustaine showed up to the video shoot so fried on heroin and other drugs that he could not sing and play guitar at the same time; therefore, the singing and playing had to be recorded separately. Mustaine was arrested for "impaired driving" that March with seven or more drugs in his system and was forced by authorities to enter a rehabilitation program (the first of his 15 visits to rehabilitation centers).. This incident (and other drug influenced incidents) are referenced in the song 'Skin O' My Teeth' - "my broken body in a wreck wrapped around a tree".

The 1990s

In February 1990, guitarist Marty Friedman (formerly of Cacophony) was auditioned to fill in the vacant lead-guitar position. In September of that year, the band joined the "Clash of the Titans" tour overseas with Slayer, Suicidal Tendencies and Testament. The tour began one month before Megadeth released Rust In Peace (1990), which continued their commercial success. They then went back on the road to promote the new album, this time as support for Judas Priest.

Megadeth started off 1991 by performing for 145,000 people at a festival in Brazil before starting their own world tour with Alice in Chains as their special guest. Mustaine got married in April, the same month the Rusted Pieces home video was released. That summer, the Clash of the Titans tour hit the U.S., featuring Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax, with Alice in Chains taking the opening slot. Later that year, the Megadeth song "Go to Hell" was featured on the soundtrack to Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey.

Also in 1991, Mustaine collaborated with Sean Harris from Diamond Head on the track "Crown of Worms." (Mustaine would later appear on Diamond Head's reformation album Death and Progress.) Mustaine's wife, Pamela, gave birth to their son Justis on February 11, 1992. The band was featured on another soundtrack, this time for Super Mario Bros. with the song "Breakpoint." July saw the release of Megadeth's most commercially successful record: Countdown to Extinction. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 and boasted some the band's most commercially successful songs, including "Symphony of Destruction," "Sweating Bullets" and "Skin o' My Teeth." The original version of the "Symphony of Destruction" video was edited due to its depiction of a political leader being assassinated; "Skin o' My Teeth" was aired on MTV with a disclaimer from Mustaine insisting that the song did not endorse suicide. Ellefson contributed lyrics to the family-farm ballad "Foreclosure of a Dream," and Menza wrote the lyrics about canned hunting for the title track. This album began a new, more "collaborative" Megadeth.

Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies opened for Megadeth on the Countdown to Extinction tour. MTV News invited Mustaine to cover the Democratic National Convention for them that summer. In November, the "Enclosure of a Dream" home video was released. In 1993, Mustaine guested on a new album by one of the bands who had influenced his own sound: Diamond Head. Megadeth began a U.S. tour with Stone Temple Pilots as their opening act. This tour, including a planned appearance at Budokan, was ultimately canceled due to Mustaine's continuing struggles with addiction. In June, Megadeth played Milton Keynes Bowl with Diamond Head and Metallica and later opened for Metallica on a handful of European Stadium dates. Megadeth was kicked off Aerosmith's U.S. tour after just seven dates due to some comments made by Mustaine on the tour that were deemed offensive. "Angry Again" was featured on the soundtrack to the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie "Last Action Hero", while "99 Ways To Die" was featured on The Beavis and Butt-head Experience compilation album.

Megadeth spent the bulk of 1994 making Youthanasia, a much more commercial album undoubtedly inspired in part by the success of Countdown to Extinction. The band covered Black Sabbath's classic song "Paranoid" for Nativity in Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath and performed on MTV's "Night of the Living Megadeth" in celebration of the Halloween release of their new album. They began a tour the next month in South America. Youthanasia became the quickest album to go gold (500,000 units) in Canadian history and sold well throughout the world. It was an album that showed a more melodic side to the band with tracks such as "À Tout le Monde." The album also included "Train of Consequences," the music video for which became one of the band's most well-known.

Another soundtrack appearance, "Diadems" on "Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight," kicked off 1995. Megadeth spent the first two months of the year on the "Youthanasia" tour with Corrosion of Conformity in tow. In March, the Hidden Treasures compilation hit European stores. 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. In September the band performed at the "Monsters of Rock" festival in South America.

A Grammy nomination for "Paranoid" began 1996 for Megadeth. Enlisting Fear singer Lee Ving, Mustaine released an album under the moniker "MD.45" with Suicidal Tendencies drummer Jimmy DeGrasso behind the kit. In September, Megadeth went back into the studio, this time in the country music hotbed of Nashville, TN. The following year's Cryptic Writings was the result.

Cryptic Writings (1997) included thrashing songs like "Vortex" and "FFF" - reminiscent of Megadeth's older material - alongside radio-friendly fare like "Trust," the song which put Megadeth on the #1 spot in the U.S. Billboard, earning them many spins at rock radio. Megadeth.com launched that year, and in June, the reformed Misfits opened for the band on tour. Chaos Comics released "The Cryptic Writings of Megadeth" comic books, and a remix of "Almost Honest" showed up on the "Mortal Kombat Annihilation" soundtrack. The first ever all-acoustic Megadeth performance in Buenos Aires, Argentina closed out the year in December.

Mustaine's daughter, Electra Mustaine, was born on January 28, 1998, the same month that "Trust" was nominated for a Grammy. Megadeth played on the Howard Stern Show and that summer took part in Ozzfest. As Nick Menza sat in the hospital side-lined by a knee injury, he received a call from Mustaine informing him that his services would no longer be needed. Jimmy DeGrasso, who Mustaine had enjoyed playing with in MD.45, joined Megadeth in his place. On New Year's Eve, Megadeth opened for Black Sabbath alongside Soulfly, Slayer, and Pantera.

While touring after Cryptic Writings, Mustaine told interviewers that songs like "She-Wolf" and "Vortex" had reinvigorated his love for classic metal by bands like Iron Maiden and Motörhead, and that he intended to write an album that was "1/2 Peace Sells, 1/2 Cryptic Writings"; however, after hearing about a comment that Lars Ulrich had made in the press in which he said he wished Mustaine would take more "risks," intentions changed. Managers and producers had more input. The song "Crush 'Em" was written with the express purpose of being played in sports arenas. In later years, Mustaine would blame much of this period on Friedman's desire to go in a more "pop" direction. Recorded with producer Dann Huff, again in Nashville, Risk was released on August 31, 1999. "Crush 'Em" made it onto the "Universal Soldier 2" soundtrack and into WCW wrestling events (notably played live on Monday Nitro). In July, the band covered "Never Say Die" for a second Black Sabbath tribute. They closed the Woodstock '99 music festival and again opened for Iron Maiden in Europe. There were few other highlights in the Megadeth world in 1999, a year that ended with Marty Friedman announcing his departure from the band.

The 2000s

As the tour behind Risk soldiered on, Al Pitrelli replaced Friedman on the road. In April, the new lineup entered the studio to begin work on a new album a couple of months before they officially parted ways with Capitol Records. The summer was spent on the road with Anthrax and Mötley Crüe. Capitol released a "best of" collection in the fall, , featuring two brand new (and more metal-leaning) songs, "Dread and the Fugitive Mind" was one of the brand new songs and appeared on the next studio album the following year. With a new deal in place with Sanctuary Records, Megadeth returned to the studio toward the end of the year to finish their album and on New Year's Eve, played a show in Anchorage, Alaska.

An acoustic tour sponsored by radio stations, a press tour, and a video shoot for the song "Moto Psycho" all preceded the May, 2001 release of The World Needs A Hero. The summer was filled with festival appearances supporting AC/DC. In September, Megadeth set out across North America with Endo and Iced Earth. VH1's "Behind The Music" special on Megadeth aired that year and was later released on DVD. At the end of the year, the band filmed two shows in Arizona, which were released as the 2CD and DVD Rude Awakening.

The early part of 2002 saw the release of a remixed and re-mastered Killing Is My Business... with bonus tracks and expanded packaging, followed by Rude Awakening.

Mustaine himself gave what he called "the Reader's Digest version" of the whole matter during an interview for SuicideGirls: "I went into retirement because my arm got hurt really bad. I broke up the band which at the time was Al Pitrelli, Dave Ellefson, Jimmy DeGrasso, and myself. I was having problems with Al because he liked to drink, and we didn’t want to show up at places with him drunk. Al also got married to a nice woman, but he wanted to spend time with her. After a few years, most married men are willing to die, so I figured if we got a couple years into the marriage that might have changed. But the fact was, Al wasn’t fitting. DeGrasso was really hard to be around because he was so negative all the time with his complaining about money and wanting things. Ellefson was all about 'play my songs, play my songs.' I hated being around these guys so when the arm injury happened, it was a welcome relief and an indication that I had to stop."

Mustaine went through physical therapy for his arm injury. During his recovery, he explored other areas of the music industry, including production. Contrary to what doctors had predicted, within a short time he fully recovered. However, all was mostly quiet on the Megadeth front for the better part of 2003. 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? as an audio DVD presented in Dolby 5.1 surround.

At the same time, Mustaine's personal life once again underwent change. It was during this period that Mustaine became a Christian. He expressed his intent to withdraw from a show in Greece that had Rotting Christ and Dissection opening for Megadeth. Mustaine told The Daily Times during a recent interview, his own world was already shattered, and becoming a Christian was the one way he's found to put the pieces back together. “I went back to being a Jehovah’s Witness, but I wasn’t happy with that.” He later said in an interview, “Looking up at the cross, I said six simple words, ‘What have I got to lose?’ Afterwards my whole life has changed. It’s been hard, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. Rather go my whole life believing that there is a God and find out there isn't than live my whole life thinking there isn't a God and then find out, when I die, that there is." Mustaine also considers his talent a gift from God. "To be the No. 1 rated guitar player in the world is a gift from God and I'm stoked about it, but I think Christ is better than I am, anyway," he said. "Either way, I don't put too much earthly merit on it."

"The Arsenal Of Megadeth", a two-disc anthology DVD, was released in March 2006. Bass player James LoMenzo (Black Label Society, White Lion) replaced James MacDonough in February shortly before the band headed to the Dubai Desert Rock Festival in the United Arab Emirates. On April 19, the band began recording a new album, United Abominations, at SARM studios in the UK (David Gilmour's house), they announced a worldwide deal with Roadrunner Records in May 2006. United Abominations was released worldwide on May 15, 2007. However, the album had already been leaked before its release. 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. The new lineup made its live debut in Finland on February 4 and returned to the US for Gigantour 2008 in the spring. A 12th studio album titled Endgame was released on September 15, 2009.

Mustaine planned to open Megadeth's California recording studio to under-privileged children to teach them about rock 'n' roll. The band owns a building in San Diego, California, which has housed their recording equipment over the years. In an interview with Kerrang, Mustaine wanted to make better use of the studio by turning the space into a learning center for children who come from under-privileged backgrounds. He also said he vowed to teach them how to play instruments.

The 2010s

Long time bassist, David Ellefson has recently re-joined Megadeth after 8 years since the disbanding of Megadeth in 2002. Ellefson and Mustaine have agreed to keep any unresolved issues in the past and are working on building and maintaining their friendship again.

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."

On August 3, 2010, Mustaine released his autobiography in the US, titled "Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir". The book covers Mustaine's life from childhood till shortly before the release of the 2009 Megadeth album "Endgame". The book was released in the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand titled "Hello Me... Meet the Real Me, Mustaine: A Life in Metal"

On November 16, 2010, Mustaine revealed that he and Megadeth were working on material for a new album. At the time of the statement, they had "five songs almost finished".

Gigantour

show in Orlando, FL.]] In the summer of 2005, Mustaine launched a travelling North American metal festival. He named it Gigantour after a favorite childhood cartoon of his, Gigantor. 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. Mustaine has been quoted as saying that his main intention when conceiving the tour was to bring the American metal audiences an eclectic and affordable alternative to Ozzfest.

The second annual Gigantour began in September 2006 and was composed of Megadeth, Lamb of God, Opeth, and Arch Enemy. The second stage bands were Overkill, Into Eternity, Sanctity, and The Smash Up.

The 2007 Gigantour featured Bring Me the Horizon, Static-X, Devildriver, and Lacuna Coil along with Megadeth. Megadeth appeared on their first tour to India, Bangalore in March 2008.

The 2008 installment of the tour featured Megadeth, Children of Bodom, In Flames, High on Fire, and Job for a Cowboy (and Evile for the UK and Scandinavia tour).

Megadeth (from the Gigantour 2008) premiered on HDNet Sunday November 2 at 8PMET in high definition and 5.1 audio (Repeats check www.hd.net)

Equipment

Mustaine used B.C. Rich Guitars early in his career (and for his entire duration with Metallica), most notably a B.C. Rich Bich 10 and later, a B.C. Rich Perfect 10 Bich, which Mustaine strung with just the regular six strings.

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.

After switching to Jackson Guitars he helped to re-design the guitar maker's version of the King V model (at the time, it was a "double Rhoads size" meaning it had two of the longer fins from the RR). The reshaped Mustaine KV1 model had slightly shorter fins, Kahler bridge and Seymour Duncan JB-4 and Jazz-2 pickups. He also specified 24 frets rather than the original King V's 22, a tradition which Jackson still keeps on its King V models today, and the KV1, as have all of Mustaine's signature models, also featured a smaller, medium fretwire compared to the extra jumbos featured on most Jacksons.

Mustaine later switched to ESP guitars. The company released the DV8 signature model in the 2004 NAMM convention also at which time Mustaine announced his ESP endorsement deal. In 2005, Mustaine and ESP teamed up to release the ESP Axxion, (pronounced Action), in order to celebrate Megadeth's 20th anniversary.(the XX in Axxion and the fretboard inlays being the number 20 in Roman numerals) The ESP Axxion and ESP DV8 were both successful and cheaper models such as the LTD-DV8 R, LTD DV200 and the LTD Axxion were released to target a bigger market. .]] However, on December 6, 2006, Dave Mustaine announced that he was leaving ESP guitars and shifting his endorsement to Dean Guitars. His new signature guitar was revealed during NAMM Show on January 19, 2007. The signature guitar is called the Dean VMNT. The V-shaped guitar is very similar to his earlier Jackson and ESP Signature models.The release campaign of the VMNT had a limited copy of only 150 in the world and are signed by Dave Mustaine. This was posted on the website.

"After two successful years, I have decided to leave ESP guitars. This was a business decision and had nothing to do with the guitars or the manufacturing of the guitars, and I wish the staff of ESP, both in the USA and in Japan and Korea the very best of health and prosperity. Meanwhile, I am taking my Classic Metal V known formerly as a Jackson King V1 or an ESP DV8, and my new guitar design presently known as an Axxion, which was the recipient of the Gold Award from Guitar World Magazine for 2005 for new guitar designs with me. I will also be re-introducing through my new endorsement many special models, including re-issues of my old models from over the span of my career, as well as some retro V shapes, similar to the formerly known Jackson Y2KV or a Gibson Flying V. I will make my announcement and be attending the 2007 NAMM show to meet Megadeth fans and all metal fans, musicians of all styles-especially guitarists."

Today he uses his new signature model by Dean Guitars, the Dean VMNT. The USA model was available briefly in limited run after its release, although the Korean and Chinese models are in continuous production. Mustaine uses the USA models on stage.

Dave Mustaine has also recently collaborated with Marshall in order to produce the 1960DM Dave Mustaine Signature Cabinets. He is now using his signature Marshall cabinets on tour.

Dave Mustaine Endorses Seymour Duncan and has his own Signature pickups, and uses GHS Strings (10-52).

His new guitar shape, debuting in 2010 with Dean guitars was a unique new shape for Dave, resembling the Gibson Explorer with sharper points. This new guitar is named the Dean Zero. Dave has made a few appearances so far with this guitar on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and on shows during the Australian tour with Slayer. He has also used the guitar in the later dates of the 2009 Endgame tour and continues to use it to this day. He says he primarily still uses his VMNT's so he can grab on to the lower horn with his legs for certain songs.

Dave has also used Ovation acoustic guitars for most of his career. However, he stopped endorsing the company after receiving a signature acoustic from Dean, dubbed the Mako.

Guitar playing

In 2004, Guitar World magazine ranked Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman together at #19 on the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time.

In 2009 Mustaine was named the No. 1 player in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists. As he told Classic Rock magazine in September 2009: "It was especially sweet when I found out that Joel has written books on Metallica... Every page I turned, I became more excited. I get to No.5 and it’s Kirk Hammett, and I thought, ‘Thank you, God’. At that point it didn’t matter [which position I was]. To be better than both of them [James Hetfield and Hammett] meant so much – it’s been one of the pet peeves of my career and I’ve never known how to deal with it... All I thought was… I win!"

Personal Life

Dave has a wife named Pamela, son named Justis David Mustaine and a daughter Elektra Nicole Mustaine. They currently reside in San Diego, California.

Cameo appearances

Dave Mustaine has appeared on various television shows:

In 1992 Mustaine covered the Democratic National Convention for MTV. He also hosted the MTV2 Television Network's series Headbanger's Ball on two occasions: once on a tribute to Dimebag Darrell in December 2004 and the second time as a special guest on an episode which aired August 27, 2005. He also played the song "Gears of War" with Megadeth on an episode about the video game release under the same name.

Dave Mustaine makes an appearance on the 1998 The Drew Carey Show episode entitled "In Ramada Da Vida." When Drew and the gang decide to start a band, they audition guitarists, including Mustaine. After playing a lightning fast guitar solo, Lewis Kiniski tells Mustaine "Don't be nervous son, just slow down," to which Mustaine replies, "It's supposed to sound that way." Drew replies by saying, "Yeah, sure it is..... next." In the show, Mustaine plays a cryogenically frozen version of himself. He is unfrozen because the main cast requires an incredibly loud noise to overload a Martian sonic weapon, and "nobody rocks harder, faster, or louder than Dave Mustaine." He is referred to in the episode as being "genetically engineered to rock and raised by wolverines". During this episode he played the song "Back in the Day" from the album The System Has Failed. Mustaine appeared again in the show in the final episode, Bonafide Hero: Captain Duck Dodgers.

Mustaine appeared on the second episode of season 8 on the television show Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

Mustaine and Megadeth appeared in promotional videos for the NHL team Philadelphia Flyers in response to an inflammatory comment by Mike Wise in the Washington Post which suggested that some of the Flyers' fans could work security for Megadeth. Mustaine invited them to do so. Megadeth all wore Flyers' jerseys. Mustaine sported the one of team captain Jason Smith, while other members wore the jerseys of Danny Brière, Martin Biron and Mike Richards.

Mustaine appeared in an episode of Rock & Roll Jeopardy! along with George Clinton and Moon Zappa. He won the game in a landslide victory.

Feuds and rivalries

Mustaine has a reputation for arguing with other heavy metal musicians, the most notorious example being Mustaine's much publicised rivalry with his former band Metallica.

See also

Megadeth discography

MD.45

Gigantour

References

External links

Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir, review at UnRated Magazine

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