‘Nothing can destroy this guy’: Megadeth’s Kiko Loureiro Talks Working With Dave Mustaine While He Underwent Chemo

Sven Mandel, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
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During a recent conversation with Guitar WorldMegadeth guitarists Kiko Loureiro and Dave Mustaine spoke to that of Mustaine’s battle with cancer. In particular, Loureiro speaks to how inspiring it was to work with Dave while the latter was undergoing chemotherapy.

Mustaine was going in for chemo during the time the band were working on their upcoming new album, The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!. Loureiro says that he would offer for Dave to go home and not worry about stuff, but that Dave was determined to work on the music. Speaking to how inspiring he found it to work with Dave – considering all he was going through – Kiko Loureiro shared the following:

“I could see he was tired. He was coming from chemo and he was still showing up for work every day. When you see him doing this, you’re like, ‘Fuck yeah, let’s work on this album, man!’ It was very inspiring to see him come in and pick up his guitar and not slow down. The songs, the whole thing. Everything was there.

“Nothing can destroy this guy, you know? We were like, ‘Are you sure you want to work today? If you go home, we can still work on some stuff.’ And he’d always say, ‘No way.’ He wanted to be there. And he put everything into the songs.”

Dave Mustaine also speaks to how wonderful it was for him to receive back-up from his bandmates.

“It was great to work with Kiko and Dirk (Verbeuren, drums) for three months in Nashville in the summer of 2019 to make these demos into songs. I would get to the studio and they would all greet me with hugs, high fives and pats on the back. All I got was encouragement. I’d play something and it was: ‘Great solo, Dave.’ Just encouragement, encouragement, encouragement. And I think besides making a great record, we’ve made a great band.”

We are thankful that Dave is doing better and are excited to hear the new Megadeth album!

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