Why Megadeth ex Marty Friedman didn’t rejoin band

Marty Friedman
Slight return: Marty Friedman on a recent brief US visit (Image credit: Getty)

Former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman refused to return to the band because he didn’t want to damage the legacy he’d left from his first stint.

The possibility of a reunion was raised in 2014 after Chris Broderick and Shawn Drover left Dave Mustaine’s outfit, when the leader considered the attractions of bringing back the man who’d helped make breakthrough album Rust In Peace in 1990 and follow-up Countdown To Extinction in 1992.

But Friedman, who played with Megadeth from 1990 until 2000, tells the LA Weekly: “I think anyone that has something as good as Rust In Peace in their history doesn’t want to revisit it, unless you’re going to top it.

“I didn’t see any reason to mess with that. I didn’t see a reunion being what it could be and what the fans deserved.

“If I were to revisit that, there would have to be a reason for me to do that beyond, ‘Let’s go back and do it again.’ That’s not a good enough reason.”

Since leaving Megadeth, Friedman has explored his interest in Japanese pop, and doesn’t often return to the US. “I would go on stage and play American heavy metal, but then at the end of the night in my hotel room I would listen to nothing but Japanese music,” he reports.

“I decided that I would rather play the music that I was listening to.

“Every time I come back to America is like a Twilight Zone episode. I don’t know the topics people here are talking about. I turn on the TV and I don’t know who the faces on it are. It’s a strange thing because I’m American, but I haven’t been in the country much.”

He’s aiming to release his next solo album in the coming months. Megadeth launched 15th record Dystopia in January, featuring guest drummer Chris Adler and new guitarist Kiko Loureiro. Dirk Verbeuren was later confirmed as permanent sticksman.

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Freelance Online News Contributor

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.