Megadeth's Dave Mustaine diagnosed with throat cancer

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Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine is undergoing treatment for throat cancer, he has told fans. The 57-year-old frontman said that his doctors had “mapped out a treatment plan they feel has a 90% success rate”, which he has already started. The diagnosis has led the US metal group to cancel the majority of their forthcoming tour, with the exception of their cruise in October, in which the band will participate “in some form”.

Mustaine added that the group will continue working on the follow-up to their Grammy-winning 2016 album Dystopia and will return to touring as soon as possible. A number of Mustaine’s peers wished him well. “Please join me in sending all of our most powerful positive mind bullets to my brother Dave,” said Scott Ian of Anthrax. As the original lead guitarist in Metallica, Mustaine was expelled from the group during recording sessions in New York by Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield as a result of his alcohol and drug use. His bandmates put him on a coach to Los Angeles, where he formed a short-lived band named Fallen Angels that evolved into Megadeth. The thrash metal group released one album for Combat before signing to Capitol records and releasing their second album, Peace Sells … But Who’s Buying, in 1986. Pitchfork described it as “a dead serious record that never takes itself too seriously, a slab of political shock commentary loaded with black comedy”.

The band’s success continued in spite of Mustaine’s drug problems, which saw him enter rehab at the turn of the 90s. Mustaine, who has voiced support for both the Democrats and Republicans in the past, stated in 2012 that he believed Barack Obama was not born in the US despite the publication of Obama’s birth certificate. Mustaine and bassist Dave Ellefson are the two remaining founder members of Megadeth, following the departure of drummer Shawn Drover and guitarist Chris Broderick in 2014. The band’s former drummer, Nick Menza, died after collapsing on stage in May 2016.

Source: The Guardian.