Megadeth and Kiko Loureiro are on a bit of a hiatus right now, with Wintersun guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari filling his shoes until further notice. Though if Loureiro had his way, former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman would be back in the fold.
According to Loureiro in an interview with Guitar World, he brought up the possibility of rehiring Friedman to management and has no idea if that conversation ever went anywhere.
"Actually, I even mentioned to management and Dave that I thought bringing Marty Friedman back would be amazing," said Loureiro. "I have no idea if they're talking about it or talking to him, but I did say that. But again, I have no idea beyond that, and I don't want to make anything more complicated."
He continued: "The fans never said anything bad about me or complained, which was amazing. But I'm a fan, and I always understood that Marty was a part of those iconic albums like Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction. I understood that Marty was the guy who helped create that sound and style, you know? From the moment I joined Megadeth, I knew the fans could show me love, but I would never win their hearts over Marty."
Megadeth and Friedman reunited twice on stage throughout 2023 – at Wacken Open Air and at the Nippon Budokan venue in Tokyo – so it's not like the two parties aren't on speaking terms these days. Though Friedman does have an incredibly successful career in Japan as both a musician and TV personality, and giving that up to rejoin Megadeth full-time seems a little unlikely.
Megadeth also seems to be in a holding pattern right now with Loureiro, as there's never been an official statement saying that Loureiro is definitively out of the band completely. Though they have since published a new band photo with Mäntysaari, so who knows.
