Megadeth, one of the indisputable pioneering forces in thrash metal, has seen many talented musicians come and go over the decades.

From early days members like David Ellefson, Gar Samuelson, and Chris Poland, to renowned guitar virtuoso Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza during the band’s widely known as “classic” era, to guitarists Chris Broderick, and Kiko Loureiro, and their more recent ranks additions of Teemu Mäntysaari, James LoMenzo, and Dirk Verbeuren, the band’s lineup has constantly evolved. Yet, each period brought something unique to the table – contributing to the band’s enduring legacy – and according to Dave Mustaine, such an extensive history of transformations had a method to its madness and was never made on a whim.

Reflecting on the band’s early days, Mustaine told The Big Takeover that he never imagined Megadeth would persist for over four decades, let alone achieve the success it has: “In my heart, I had hoped that I could continue playing for as long as I live. The question was, how long was I going to live? We were all in this L.A. scene at the time that everybody was living super fast and dangerous.

“People like [Mötley Crüe singer] Vince Neil getting in a car crash and the drummer for Hanoi Rocks losing his life, that whole period around then — everybody was just dangerous. We had to get away from that. All I wanted to do was just play my guitar. I didn’t want to hang out. I was not one of those guys who would go over to people’s houses and party all night. If I was doing anything, I would do it by myself in the house and play guitar. Not that I was alone in my house, but you know.”

Mustaine went on to discuss how his challenging upbringing fueled his relentless drive to succeed: “For me, I didn’t have a Plan B. And I didn’t want to have a Plan B because my Plan A was all that mattered. And I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Growing up homeless, and growing up a poor kid, does something to you.

“So yeah, being a poor kid and going from house to house to house, and wearing hand-me-down clothes all the time, and living in a car for as long as I did, that changed me. And that’s what I think drove me to want to be successful because I didn’t want to be that guy. I didn’t want to be stuck in a situation of being homeless and living in a car. I was not going to settle for that. So that’s why I worked as hard as I did ”

Mustaine emphasized that his choices regarding lineup changes were never made lightly, even when he never shied away from making tough ones. Despite sparking criticism from some fans, he remarked there were always “valid reasons” for the abundant shifts over the years: “Some people will say I was callous with the Megadeth lineup changes and stuff like that, but with every one of the lineup changes we had, there was a really legitimate reason that we made a change.”