Beyond Dave Mustaine‘s prowess on the guitar and his tumultuous journey through the music industry, one extraordinary claim stands out: the purported healing of a fan from cancer.
In a feature from 2011 discussing his most cherished belongings, MEGADETH mainman told Spin magazine: “I met a fan in Kentucky who had throat cancer. He was only supposed to live a few weeks. For some reason, I reached out, grabbed his throat, and started praying for the dude. He lived long enough to give me this on our next tour. It’s signed by the governor and says I’m an honorary Kentucky Colonel. As far as I know, it’s the real deal.”
Mustaine‘s commitment to his born-again Christian faith has served as a fundamental aspect of the guitarist’s life for an extended period, offering him resilience and direction during both challenging and prosperous moments. Nevertheless, upon receiving his throat cancer diagnosis back in 2019, he emphasized the significance of proper nutrition and advancements in medical science for his prolonged period of remission.
In a 2020 interview with Forbes, Mustaine talked about his battle with throat cancer and how IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson — who himself had surgery to remove a cancerous lump on his throat back in 2015 — helped him during his recovery.
“After I was diagnosed with it, I thought, ‘I want to call Bruce,’ it’s not like I have a whole Rolodex of rock friends that sing heavy metal music that have throat cancer [laughs], so my choices were limited,” Mustaine said.
“I was pretty proud of Bruce after speaking with him. Although we’re not super close, I consider him to be someone I look up to. He basically told me the same thing I just told you: surround yourself with good, upbeat, positive people, places and things and try not to cause any unnecessary stress on yourself.
Dave added: “When you’re a frontman in one of the biggest bands in the galaxy, you don’t really have to tolerate the frontman of the other bands very much, but he’s always been super kind to me and very, I don’t want to say ‘gentlemanly,’ because I don’t want anyone to think that he’s not a bad motherf*cker!”
