Jeff Young Calls Dave Mustaine a ‘Pathological Liar’
It should go without saying, but I think there’s zero love lost between ex-Megadeth guitarist Jeff Young and his former boss/bandmate Dave Mustaine. At least now there’s certainly not, after Young called Mustaine out for spreading falsehoods about why a particular tour in the late 80s was canceled.
Young played with Megadeth from 1987 until he was let go from the band two years later in 1989. Exactly why he was let go depends on who you ask, apparently, as accounts differ from person to person. If you ask Mustaine, it’s because Young had allegedly run out of heroin in Japan and “wanted to go home,” forcing the band to cancel their Australia tour in support of So Far, So Good…So What.
During a recent interview with Misplaced Straws, Young referenced the differing accounts, alleging that Mustaine’s been lying all these years about what really went down.
“That’s what a pathological liar does. Are you talking about the YouTube video where he says I ran out of heroin in Japan and canceled the Australian tour? Yeah, I’ve been owning him in the media ever since he’s done that. If Pinocchio has a brother, you know what I’m saying.”
According to Young, he wasn’t even using drugs when he was in Megadeth, stating that he’d been “straight edge” when he joined.
“I was a straight edge when I went in that band and I never drank, I didn’t smoke pot, to fit in, I kind of tried to hang with those guys a little bit, but he was the one that canceled that tour.
“That’s why I left the band because early on, being a straight edge and three nights in the guitar tech gets arrested in East LA score and heroin from Mustaine, and he doesn’t show up to the studio that night and the drummer tells you, you realize, ‘Okay, Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.’
“I made a pact with myself, I can remember the exact sentence I said in that moment at the Music Grinder studio when I found out the news, I said, the first thing I literally said was, ‘Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore’, and the second thing was, ‘I’m gonna stay in the situation as long as it’s healthy for me’, which you see exactly how long that duration was.”
Given the fact that all this happened more than three decades ago, it’s probably going to be impossible to find out who’s telling the truth. Given Mustaine’s own struggles with addiction back then and how crazy things were around the band at that time, I’d say he might be a little bit of an untrustworthy narrator here. Who knows?
Young is currently out on tour with the Kings of Thrash. You can catch him, David Ellefson, and Chris Poland playing both Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good and So Far, So Good…So What at each date.
KINGS OF THRASH ON TOUR:
2/22 — Columbus, OH — King Of Clubs
2/24 — Flint, MI — The Machine Shop
2/25 — Cincinnati, OH — Legends Bar And Venue
2/27 — Cleveland, OH — Beachland Ballroom And Tavern
2/28 — Warrendale, PA — Jergels
3/1 — Buffalo, NY — Town Ballroom
3/3 — Poughkeepsie, NY — The Chance
3/4 — Sayreville, NJ — Starland Ballroom
3/5 — Harrisburg, PA — Midtown Arts Center
3/7 — Ardmore, PA — Ardmore Music Hall
3/8 — New York, NY — Gramercy Theatre
3/10 — Charlottesville, VA — Jefferson Theatre
3/11 — Greensboro, NC — Hangar 1819
3/12 — Asheville, NC — The Orange Peel
3/14 — Charleston, SC — Music Farm
3/15 — Atlanta, GA — The Masquerade (Hell)
