Dave Mustaine: Megadeth Covered “Ride The Lightning” Because “It’s a Hell of a Song”
One of the biggest “wha?!?!” moments when Megadeth unveiled their final album earlier this year was the reveal that they’d be covering “Ride The Lightning,” a song from Metallica — you know, that one band Dave Mustaine was a part of in the early 80s. He’s got a writing credit on that track, so it’s not that out of the question for him to do, but it was just an unexpected development, given his rocky relationship with his former bandmates over the years.
Now, in a recent interview with Guitar World, Mustaine outlined why he decided to have it as the album’s final track as the band hangs up its legendary career.
“The main reason I chose to do this was to close the circle and pay my respects to my partners. I thought this was a really great way to do that.
“Whenever we select any other band’s music to go on our albums, sometimes there’s a lot of thought behind it and sometimes there’s not. This was one of the ones that we thought long and hard about, because all I wanted to do was play the song I wrote with the guys in Metallica.
“I wanted to pay my respects to [Metallica frontman] James Hetfield, who I think is an amazing guitar player, and [Metallica drummer] Lars Ulrich, who was an excellent songwriter. I remember when I was there and we were putting these songs together, Lars didn’t just sit there; he was very instrumental in making these songs.”
Mustaine said he’d only ever recorded a demo version of the track, so this was his chance for him to record a “full-on produced version”. And while he said he would have “love to have heard” a full version of the demo he worked on, Mustaine said this was also an opportunity to go back and listen to the song and revel in that performance from the iconic 1984 album of the same name.
“Of course, when we got into making demos of these songs, it was fun to do the recordings, but we were never really able to do a full-on produced version of ‘Ride The Lightning’ [while I was in Metallica], and I would have loved to have heard that.
“I gotta tell you — listening back to James’s original vocal performance, it was really tremendous.
“Anyway, there’s no big strategy; I have respect for the guys, and I just wanted to show that. And it’s a hell of a song.”
Megadeth’s self-titled, farewell LP is set to release January 23 of 2026 via BLKIIBLK, but you can preorder your copy today.
In addition to the album’s upcoming release, Megadeth already have a long line of tour dates figured out for the new year. You can check out the dates they have planned so far below.
As for their farewell tour, there’s a chance they’re coming to a venue near you, so you owe it to yourself to catch Mustaine and co. one (or more than one) last time before they’re through. The dates that have been announced so far have been listed below.
Megadeth Farewell Tour Dates
1/17 La Vergne, TN Let There Be Shred: Immersive Listening Event
2/15 Victoria, BC Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
2/17 Abbotsford, BC Rogers Forum
2/18 Kelowna, BC Prospera Place
2/20 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome
2/21 Edmonton, AB Rogers Place
2/24 Saskatoon, SK SaskTel Centre
2/25 Winnipeg, MB Canada Life Centre
2/28 London, ON Canada Life Place
3/1 Ottawa, ON Canadian Tire Centre
3/3 Halifax, NS Scotiabank Centre
3/4 Moncton, NB Avenir Centre
3/6 Québec City, QC Videotron Centre
4/23 Lima, Peru Costa 21
4/26 Bogotá, Colombia Movistar Arena
4/27 Bogotá, Colombia Movistar Arena
4/30 Buenos Aires, Argentina TBD
5/10 Mexico City, Mexico Arena Ciudad de Mexico
5/11 Mexico City, Mexico Arena Ciudad de Mexico
5/13 Guadalajara, Mexico Arena Guadalajara
5/2 São Paulo, Brazil Espaco Unimed
5/4 Santiago, Chile Movistar Arena
5/5 Santiago, Chile Movistar Arena
5/8 Monterrey, Mexico Arena Monterrey
6/10 Hradec Králové, Czechia Rock For People – Park 360
6/11 Luxembourg, LUX Rockhal
6/14 Ferrara, Italy Ferrara Summer Festival – Piazza Ariostea
6/15 Zurich, SWI Halle 622
6/16 Vienna, AUT Gasometer
6/2 Hanover, Germany Heinz von Heiden Arena
6/23 Istanbul, TUR KüçükÇiftlik Park
6/26 Helsinki, Finland Suvilahti – TUSKA
6/28 Almaty, KAZ Spartak Stadium
6/7 Gelsenkirchen, GER Amphitheater
8/29 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
8/30 Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
9/11 Bristow, VA Jiffy Lube Live
9/12 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
9/15 Hershey, PA Hersheypark Stadium
9/19 Shakopee, MN Mystic Lake Amphitheater
9/22 Tinley Park, IL Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
9/25 Los Angeles, CA BMO Stadium
9/26 Los Angeles, CA BMO Stadium
9/29 San Antonio, TX Alamodome
9/3 Montréal, QC Parc Jean Drapeau
9/5 Harrison, NJ Sports Illustrated Stadium
9/6 Harrison, NJ Sports Illustrated Stadium
9/9 Boston, MA TD Garden
