Dave Mustaine Biography

Dave Mustaine born David Scott Mustaine is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member.

Mustaine has released sixteen studio albums with Megadeth, sold over 50 million albums worldwide, with six albums platinum-certified, and won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2017 at the 59th Grammy Awards, for the title track of their fifteenth studio album, Dystopia.

Prior to forming Megadeth, Mustaine was the original lead guitarist of Metallica but did not appear on any albums. He was, however, credited with four songs from Kill ‘Em All and two songs from Ride the Lightning.

Mustaine was originally born into a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He now identifies as a born-again Christian. Mustaine has been to rehab throughout his life, fighting alcohol and drug problems, and briefly battled throat cancer in 2019. Mustaine has been married to Pamela Anne Casselberry since 1991, with whom he has two children, Electra and Justis Mustaine.

In a popular vote on the internet forum Ultimate Guitar, Mustaine was ranked third in the top 25 rhythm guitarists of all time, first in Joel McIver’s book, The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists, tenth in Loudwire’s “66 Best Hard Rock + Metal Guitarists of All Time”, and third in their “10 Greatest Rhythm Guitarists in Rock + Metal”.

10 Quick Facts About Dave Mustaine

Here is a list are 10 facts

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• Name: David Scott Mustaine
• Age: 61 years old as of 2022
• Birthday: September 13th
• Zodiac Sign: Virgo
• Height: 6 feet 0 inches
• Nationality: American
• Occupation: Musician
• Marital Status: Married
• Salary: To be Updated
• Net worth: $5 million

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Dave Mustaine Age

David Scott Mustaine is 61 years old as of 2022. He was born on September 13th, 1961 in La Mesa, California, United States. He also celebrates his birthday on September 13th every year. Moreover, his birth sign is Virgo.

Dave Mustaine Height and Weight

Mustaine measures an average standing height. He stands at a height of 6 feet 0 inches tall which is equivalent to 1.83 meters tall. However, his weight as well as his other body measurements are currently under review and will be updated as soon as it has been made publicly available.

Dave Mustaine Education

Unfortunately, details about where Dave went to high school/college are not known to the public. This section will be updated as soon as the information is available.

Dave Mustaine Family, Parents

Mustaine was born in La Mesa, California, (a nearby suburb of San Diego) to his parents Emily Marie David, his mother, and John Jefferson Mustaine, his father. His father was of French, German, Irish, and Finnish descent, while his mother was of German-Jewish ancestry. The Mustaine family were Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Dave Mustaine Siblings

Mustaine had three older sisters, Michelle, Suzanne, and Debbie, who were 18, 15, and 3 respectively when he was born. Due to the significant age difference between Mustaine and his sisters, as a child, he often thought of them as his aunts rather than sisters.

Mustaine has described family life as tumultuous during his early life, lamenting years later that “life unraveled in a great many ways” for his family before he was born. 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.

Dave Mustaine Dating, Wife and Children

Mustaine married Pamela Anne Casselberry in 1991. They have two children together: Justis Mustaine (born 1992), who also plays the guitar and has appeared in several local theatrical productions, and Electra Mustaine (born 1998), who is pursuing a career in country music. As of 2014, they live in Nashville, Tennessee.

Dave Mustaine Sick, Cancer and Cancer Free

In 2011, Mustaine said that his neck and spine condition, known as stenosis, was caused by many years of headbanging.

On June 17, 2019, Mustaine announced that he had been diagnosed with throat cancer, and on January 31, 2020, during a Megadeth concert, he announced that he was now cancer free.

Dave Mustaine Salary

Details about Dave’s salary are not yet disclosed. However, information about how much he/she makes will be updated as soon as it is available.

Dave Mustaine Net Worth

Dave has an estimated net worth of $5 million dollars as of 2022. This includes his assets, money, and income. His primary source of income is his career as a musician. Through his various sources of income, Mustaine has been able to accumulate good fortune but prefers to lead a modest lifestyle.

Dave Mustaine Measurements and Facts

Here are some interesting facts and body measurements you should know about Mustaine.

Dave Mustaine Wiki

• Full Names: David Scott Mustaine
• Popular As: Dave Mustaine
• Gender: Male
• Occupation / Profession: Musician
• Nationality: American
• Race / Ethnicity: White
• Religion: Not Available
• Sexual Orientation: Straight

Dave Mustaine Birthday

• Age: 61 years old as of 2022
• Zodiac Sign: Virgo
• Date of Birth: September 13th, 1961
• Place of Birth: La Mesa, California, United States
• Birthday: September 13th

Dave Mustaine Body Measurements

• Height / How Tall?: 6 feet 0 inches
• Weight: To be Updated
• Eye Color: Hazel
• Hair Color: Brown
• Shoe Size: To be Updated
• Triceps Size: To be Updated
• Chest Size: To be Updated
• Waist Size: To be Updated
• Hip Size: To be Updated

Dave Mustaine Family and Relationship

• Father (Dad): John Jefferson Mustaine
• Mother: Emily Marie David
• Siblings (Brothers and Sisters): Michelle, Suzanne, and Debbie
• Marital Status: Married
• Dating / Girlfriend: Married to Pamela Anne Casselberry
• Children: Justis Mustaine and Electra Mustaine

Dave Mustaine Net Worth and Salary

• Net Worth: $5 million
• Salary: Under review
• Source of Income: Musician

Dave Mustaine Career

Panic

Panic was Mustaine’s first band. The lineup was Mike Leftwych on drums, Bob Evans on bass, Tom Quecke on rhythm guitar, Pat Voeks as the vocalist, with Mustaine as the lead guitarist. Both Mike Leftwych and a sound man were killed in a car crash after Panic’s second show. Mustaine stated that after the band started to fall apart in 1981, Quecke also died.

Metallica

In 1981, Mustaine disbanded Panic and joined Metallica as the lead guitarist. Metallica’s drummer Lars Ulrich had posted an ad in a local newspaper, The Recycler, looking for a lead guitarist.

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?’, and they said, ‘No, you’ve got the job.’ I couldn’t believe how easy it had been and suggested that we get some beer to celebrate.”

Metallica began recording their first album titled Kill ‘Em All in 1983 but Mustaine’s tenure with Metallica was short-lived. Brian Slagel, an owner of Metal Blade Records, recalled 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 really crazy person, a raging megalomaniac, 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 with seeing Dave drunk out of his mind all the time.”

On one occasion, Mustaine brought his dog to rehearsal; the dog jumped onto the car of Metallica bassist Ron McGovney and scratched the paint. Hetfield allegedly yelled at Mustaine’s dog and kicked it in a fit of rage, which provoked Mustaine into physically attacking Hetfield.

Mustaine was fired following the altercation, but 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 can of beer down the neck and into the pick-ups of McGovney’s bass, resulting in collateral damage.

McGovney claimed that he was unaware of the damage and that he received an electric shock upon plugging it into an amplifier. Mustaine, however, denied this claim, stating that McGovney was present when the incident occurred and did not attempt to plug in his bass afterward. 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 ejected from the band because of his alcoholism, drug abuse, overly aggressive behavior, and personal 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 the Port Authority Bus Terminal, and put him on a Greyhound bus bound for Los Angeles. On this bus ride, Mustaine scribbled some lyrical ideas on the back of a handbill, which later became the song “Set the World Afire” from the 1988 Megadeth album So Far, So Good… So What!

During his time with Metallica, Mustaine toured with the band, co-wrote four songs that appeared on Kill ‘Em All, and co-wrote two songs that eventually appeared on the 1984 album Ride the Lightning. Mustaine has also made unverified claims to have written parts of “Leper Messiah” from Master of Puppets.

Fallen Angels

Fallen Angels were the name of the short-lived band that Mustaine founded after his departure from Metallica. In April 1983, after returning to California to live with his mother, he landed what he calls his first real job with the aid of Robbie McKinney.

McKinney and a friend, Matt Kisselstein, worked with Mustaine as telemarketers. Mustaine quit his job after earning enough money to move to an apartment in Hollywood and recruited McKinney, who played guitar, and Kisselstein, who played bass, for his band Fallen Angels.

In his biography, Mustaine describes that “We lacked the chemistry, the energy, the spark—or whatever you want to call it—that gives a band life in its infancy.” The partnership did not last.

This paved the way for his partnership with Dave Ellefson and Greg Handevidt. Ellefson was playing the opening bass line of Van Halen’s “Runnin’ with the Devil” in the apartment below Mustaine’s.

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

This resulted in the two coming up to Mustaine’s apartment to ask for cigarettes. Mustaine replied, “There’s a store on the corner” and slammed the door in their faces. A few minutes later, they knocked on the door, this time asking if they could buy him a beer. Mustaine’s reply: ‘OK, now you are talking. They spent the night talking about music, and soon after, Mustaine, Ellefson, and Handevidt were bandmates.

With little confidence in his own vocal capabilities, Mustaine added ‘Lor’ Kane to the Fallen Angels roster. Kane did not stay long, although he is credited for the suggestion that they should change the name to Megadeth, knowing that Mustaine had written a song of the same name.

After Kane left, the first of many drummers, Dijon Carruthers, joined the band. The lineup of Mustaine, Ellefson, Handevidt, and Carruthers was one of the first incarnations of Megadeth.

Frequently Asked Questions About Dave Mustaine

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