“This was a journey of me saving myself”: Dave Mustaine to release new memoir, In My Darkest Hour

Fresh from the triumph of their final studio album, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has announced details of a new memoir.

Due out on September 8 via Da Capo, the 240-page book documents his journey from his 2019 diagnosis with squamous cell carcinoma to his recovery – though as he notes, it also goes so much further beyond that… “One of most harrowing experiences of my adult life has been my seven-year journey through cancer treatment and onward into remission,” Dave shares. “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.”

Meanwhile, a synopsis describes how In My Darkest Hour also looks at his return to the studio, as Dave “chronicles how his diagnosis inspired him to take up the pen and guitar pick, going from radiation and chemotherapy appointments straight into hours-long recording sessions, resulting in Megadeth’s 16th studio album, The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!

“Along the way, Mustaine details how confronting his own mortality brought him closer to his family, taught him how to ask for help, strengthened his faith, and challenged the vulnerability of his art.

“Filled with perseverance, hope and the determination to never let the bastards grind you down, In My Darkest Hour is a masterful portrait of a Dave Mustaine that the world has yet to see, and serves as a moving reminder that even our most invincible heroes are human.”

In last year’s Kerrang! Cover Story, the 64-year-old spoke about bringing the band to an end in the future, and their plans to keep playing shows for a good while yet.

“We’re easily talking about touring for another three to five years,” he said. “And if we’re going to be doing it for that long then, shit, I’ll be looking at the birthday I don’t even want to think about!”

With that birthday in mind, though, he stressed that his main focus was just making sure he was as well as can be: “I have to remember that people live and they die. And I need to take good care of myself.”

Read this next:

• Why Dave Mustaine leaving Metallica was the best thing for both of them
• Megadeth: “The body will disappear, but the legend will remain. And the music will go on forever”
• Drugs, dogs and danger: The making of Megadeth’s master work, Rust In Peace