In a new interview with Guitar World, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine opened up about the departure of legendary, former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman. Friedman departed the group in 2000, and according to Mustaine, the straw that broke the camel's back for Friedman was the guitar solo to "Breadline"—from Megadeth's divisive 1999 album, Risk.
"I've always believed we should give the guitar player an opportunity to do a solo that he feels is right for the song," said Mustaine. "If someone plays something that doesn’t work for the part, then I may make some suggestions. If it's still not happening, I might say, 'Okay, this is what I want you to play here.' If a lead totally doesn’t work then I’m going to do the part myself. That’s what happened [on] 'Breadline'. And Marty Friedman quit over the solo in 'Breadline'."
As Mustaine explained, management was already prepping "Breadline" to be a single, and needed a more single-friendly solo.
"I said [to management], 'Well, you have three choices. Either you mute the solo completely, have Marty come back and redo it, or I do it.' And then I said, 'If I do it, you'd better tell him.' Well, I redid it and nobody told Marty. So we're in there listening to the finished album and the solo comes on. It's my solo, not Marty's… I looked at him as tears ran down his face and I knew right away that nobody had told him. I knew that was probably going to be the end of Marty Friedman."
When Mustaine was asked if an explanation of the situation might have produced a different outcome, the Megadeth leader opined that it would likely have not. "Having been a partner with Marty for so many years, as much of an enigma as he was, I could tell he was really upset and he had had enough. What happened to Marty was definitely not okay. Our management was supposed to tell him and, for whatever reason, they didn't do it. I think that was a terrible thing to do to him."
After departing Megadeth, Friedman relocated to Japan, which he has called home ever since. This week, he released the beautifully-animated video for his cover of Ikimono-gakari's 2012 track "Kaze Ga Fuiteiru." The cover is originally from Friedman's 2021 album Tokyo Jukebox 3 featuring covers of various Japanese musical works. As for the video, Friedman stated "All the people in all the countries in the world are connected by the same wind, is the simple concept of this video. Take from that what you will, and enjoy the fresh new imagery."
Megadeth will release their new record The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! on September 2. Pre-orders for The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! are available here.
