Megadeth's Dave Mustaine announces he is “100 percent” cancer-free
The singer and guitarist says he underwent 51 radiation and nine chemo treatments since his diagnosis
It was just this past June that Dave Mustaine revealed publicly that he had been diagnosed with throat cancer.
But now the Megadeth singer and guitarist has announced that he is “100 percent” cancer-free.
At Megadeth’s show at London’s SSE Arena on Friday he addressed his battle with the illness from the stage, telling the audience:
“About a year ago, we were working on our new album back in Franklin, Tennessee, and I started to feel some pain. I went to the doctor and he said, ‘Dave, you have cancer.' And I went, 'Fuck! I have cancer.' And I was so shocked."
He continued, “At first, I thought, 'Am I afraid?' And then I said, 'No. I'm fucking pissed.' We stopped the record – we stopped everything. I went into treatment for cancer.
“It was 51 radiation treatments and nine chemo treatments and when it was all said and done, every day I would think, 'I can't face not playing again,' so I would pray.
“I know a lot of you guys know that I pray. I say that in Peace Sells. I pray every day. I say that in the song. I've said it since the second record.
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“But I thought about you guys every day, too. And I thought about my family. And I got this power from you guys. And I just kept thinking about it.
“And on October 16, I went to go see the doctor, and he said, 'You're 100% free of cancer.'"
Megadeth’s current European with Five Finger Death Punch and Bad Wolves continues February 3 in Berlin.
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Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
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