Dave Mustaine wasn’t going to let cancer affect his guitar playing after a doctor told him he would lose “80% of the use of his arm” due to a previous hand injury.
In 2002, the Megadeth rocker suffered nerve damage after falling asleep with his left arm on the back of a chair, and a doctor told him he could never play his beloved instrument again.
Not wanting to give up hope, Mustaine sought a second opinion and started a course of shock therapy, and has continued to perform ever since.
The 60-year-old musician was diagnosed with throat cancer in the summer of 2019 – but was declared ‘100% cancer free’ in October of that year.
And though he still has ‘nerve damage’ and his arm makes a clicking noise, Mustaine hasn’t let the injury he suffered two decades ago or his cancer stop him from killing at home. chopped.
Speaking to the latest issue of Guitar World magazine, Mustaine said: “I had to wear these crazy gears, and there’s still a bit of arm damage.
“But having 80% use of my arm and never playing against shredding my ass again and having a little click… Yeah, good thing I started with a shitty car.
“I’m used to all kinds of clicks and pops when I’m driving.
“So after going through that, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to let cancer affect the way I played.”
Dave also insisted that he was never afraid to die, even after his brief death from a Valium overdose in 1993.
He said: “I never thought I was going to die because I had already died once before.
“And even though I knew I was really sick, I wasn’t scared because I wasn’t scared of dying.
“I was ready [just in case I didn’t make it].
“It’s very heartwarming to come to that place in your life where you’re so happy and so full of love that you’re ready.
“You made peace with everything and everyone.
And if your time is now – today – that’s fine.
“If that happened, I would have peace with it and be ready to go.”