Megadeth’s David Ellefson on Mustaine Cancer Diagnois: “Dave’s a Warrior, He’s a Fighter”

Megadeth bassist David Ellefson opened up about yesterday’s news that Dave Mustaine has been diagnosed with throat cancer. Mustaine’s prognosis is reportedly very good — the form of treatment he’s undergoing has a 90% success rate. Still, the band, understandably, has been forced to cancel most of their remaining 2019 performances, with only the inaugural Megacruise boat expedition continuing as planned.

Speaking to The Classic Metal Show about Mustaine’s diagnosis, Ellefson said:

“We were bracing for the bomb today, knowing that we had to get an announcement out. Thoughts and prayers are always welcome. Dave has started his treatment. We’ve been in Nashville for the last month and a half working on the [new] album, so we were watching this all unfold before us.

“Dave has begun treatment, so things are moving forward. It just became a reality where it was, like, ‘Look, in order to do this treatment properly, follow the doctor’s orders, Dave can’t be undergoing treatment for cancer and be out playing big rock concerts.’

“So we had to say, ‘We’ve got to just stop. We’ve got to clear the decks and put this as the number one priority,’ which is what the announcement was – just addressing it and giving everybody a heads up that some shows are going to have to go away until this all gets worked out.

“Dave and I have been through our share of the shitshow: Ups and downs, drug addictions, breakups and makeups and everything else in between. This is another one.

“We’re optimistic about the treatments and the success rate is usually pretty good on this one, so I think there’s a lot of optimism at the end of this whole thing.”

Ellefson added:

“Other cases have shown that throat cancer is treatable. It’s at a place where it’s certainly, I don’t think, beyond a point of repair.

“That’s why I think shutting down right now – at least the touring side of it – is good, because I think if we tried to continue to go out and force Dave to sing and perform, that may not have such a good outcome.”

“Dave’s a warrior, he’s a fighter, and he’s got pretty good sensibilities about when to hit the gas and when to hit the brake. So it’s what it needs to be right at this exact time.”

You can listen to Ellefson’s entire interview below. You can read other messages of support from prominent members of the metal community here.

https://youtu.be/V-7gTQvpVt0

[via Metal Hammer]