Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine Plans Revealing Memoir Examining Cancer Journey

Dave Mustaine, the thrash-metal firebrand who founded Megadeth in 1983, will reflect on some of the scariest times in his life in a new autobiography, In My Darkest Hour: A Memoir, due Sept. 8. The book, which Mustaine co-wrote with author Joe Layden, will recount how he battled a cancer diagnosis in the past decade.

In 2019, doctors diagnosed Mustaine with a squamous cell carcinoma at the back of his tongue. The book will detail how Mustaine, who has survived alcoholism and drug addiction — chronicled in depth in his 2010 book, Mustaine: A Life in Metal, also co-written with Layden, and Rust in Peace, a full-band memoir that focused on the making of Megadeth’s thrash touchstone — responded to the diagnosis with a new resolve to make music. It tells how the musician went from chemo and radiation appointments to hours-long recording sessions to make Megadeth’s 16th album, The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! which arrived in 2022. Publishers say the book reveals Mustaine’s inner struggles with mortality, and how he sought refuge in family and faith.

“One of the most harrowing experiences of my adult life has been my seven-year journey through cancer treatment and onward into remission,” Mustaine said in a statement. “This story is considerably more than just, ‘Go to the doctor, get diagnosed, get treatment and hopefully I live happily ever after.’ This was a journey of me saving myself, staying alive, keeping my family together, and continuing to make music through it all.”

Now six years removed from the initial diagnosis, Mustaine has kept his determination. Megadeth released their 17th album, Megadeth, in January, where it debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200. The album features Megadeth’s cover of Metallica’s “Ride the Lightning,” a tune Mustaine received a co-writing credit on, and the punky single, “I Don’t Care.”

Mustaine has said that this LP will be Megadeth’s last. “After 40 years of delivering Megadeth music, playing shows around the world, I have nothing but gratitude at this moment,” he said of going Number One. “Finding out that our last Megadeth record is also our first Number One only further validates my will to go out on top.”

“In My Darkest Hour is Dave Mustaine at his most revealing, vulnerable, and true,” Ben Schafer, publisher Da Capo’s executive editor, said. “With lacerating honesty and soulful reflection, he speaks to the universal human experience of facing serious illness and how it changes a person, their family and friends, and one’s relationship with creativity.”