Dave Mustaine hopes his hands will allow him to continue playing, even as health problems have helped shape Megadeth’s decision to end their recording and touring career.
The guitarist discussed his future with Rolling Stone’s Kory Grow during the September 8 launch of his memoir, In My Darkest Hour, at Kaufman Music Center in New York. Asked about retirement, he expressed hope rooted in both his faith and the possibility of advances in medical technology.
“I’m hoping God’s gonna heal me,” Mustaine said, according to Blabbermouth’s transcription of the conversation. He also imagined technology that could restore his hand’s function.
Mustaine has previously discussed Dupuytren’s contracture in his left hand, alongside arthritis and numbness. Dupuytren’s causes tissue beneath the palm’s skin to thicken and tighten, potentially pulling fingers inward and limiting their ability to straighten. According to Mayo Clinic, the condition often progresses over years. Treatments can help with its effects, although there is no cure.
For Mustaine, those difficulties became part of the conversation about how much longer Megadeth could continue. In an August interview with Rock Cellar, he explained that the band had entered the studio without intending to make a final album. As the sessions progressed, he told his son and manager Justis that his hand was hurting. The problems involved the hand responsible for fretting his guitar, making them directly relevant to the work he was trying to finish.
He also described a difference between performing and stopping. In that interview, Mustaine said the discomfort became more apparent during breaks, while he could still get through a performance without feeling it.
Megadeth released the completed album, Megadeth, on January 23, 2026. It is the band’s 17th and final studio record, with their farewell tour extending the closing chapter onto the stage.
His memoir examines an earlier period when illness threatened his ability to work. Written with Joe Layden and published by Da Capo on September 8, In My Darkest Hour recounts his 2019 cancer diagnosis, treatment and recording sessions for The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! It also explores the role of family and faith during that experience.
Mustaine expects music to remain part of his life, though he has not settled on what that involvement will look like after Megadeth. For now, he said his intention is to “play the best I can until then.”
