List of Megadeth band members

Megadeth is an American thrash metal band. It was made by Dave Mustaine and David Ellefson in 1983.^[1]

Albums

In 1985, Megadeth made its first album, named Killing is My Business... and Business is Good!. The Combat Records record label released the album. After the album came out, larger record labels noticed Megadeth, and the band joined Capitol Records. Their first album with Capitol Records, Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?, was released in 1986. Some Megadeth band members were addicted to drugs, so they got a lot of bad publicity during the 1980s. Still, the band released many popular albums, such as So Far, So Good... So What! in 1988,^[2] Rust in Peace in 1990, and Countdown to Extinction in 1992. The band took a break in 2002, but came back together later.^[3] They have released six albums since then.

Members

Megadeth has had many different guitarists, drummers, and bassists. Mustaine is the last member of the original group who is still in the band. Megadeth's current members are guitarist and singer Dave Mustaine, guitarist Kiko Loureiro, drummer Dirk Verbeuren and bassist James LoMenzo.^[4]^[5]

Current

Name	Years in band	Instruments	Played music on
Dave Mustaine	1983–2002 2004–present	guitars main singing piano	All Megadeth albums
James LoMenzo	2006–2010 2021–2022 (touring) 2022–present^[6]	bass singing	United Abominations (2007) Endgame (2009)
Dirk Verbeuren	2016–present	drums	The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! (2022)
Teemu Mäntysaari	2023–present (touring 2023)	guitars backing vocals	none

No longer in Megadeth

Name	Years in band	Instruments	Played music on
David Ellefson	1983–2002 2010–2021	bass singing	All Megadeth releases from Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! (1985) to Rude Awakening (2002) from Rust in Peace Live (2010) to Dystopia (2016)
John Cyriis	1983	singing	none
Richard Girod		drums
Dijon Carruthers
Lee Rausch	1984		Last Rites demo (1984)
Gar Samuelson	1984–1987 (died 1999)		Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! (1985) Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? (1986)
Greg Handevidt	1983	guitar	none
Chris Poland	1984–1985 1985–1987 1990 (session only) 2004 (session only)		Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! (1985) Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? (1986) Rust in Peace (1990) (bonus tracks only) The System Has Failed (2004)
Mike Albert	1985		none
Jay Reynolds	1987		none
Chuck Behler	1987–1989	drums	So Far, So Good... So What! (1988)
Jeff Young	1987–1989	guitar	So Far, So Good... So What! (1988)
Nick Menza	1989–1998 2004 (died 2016)	drums singing	all Megadeth releases from Rust in Peace (1990) to Cryptic Writings (1997)
Marty Friedman	1990–2000	guitars singing	all Megadeth releases from Rust in Peace (1990) to Risk (1999)
Jimmy DeGrasso	1998–2002	drums singing	Risk (1999) The World Needs a Hero (2001) and Rude Awakening (2002)
Al Pitrelli	2000–2002	guitar singing	The World Needs a Hero (2001) and Rude Awakening (2002)
Shawn Drover	2004–2014	drums	all Megadeth releases from That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires (2005) to Countdown to Extinction: Live (2013)
Glen Drover	2004–2008	guitar singing	That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires (2005) Gigantour (2006) United Abominations (2007)
James MacDonough	2004–2006	bass	That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires (2005) Gigantour (2006)
Chris Broderick	2008–2014	guitar singing	All Megadeth releases from Endgame (2009) to Super Collider (2013)
Chris Adler	2015–2016	drums	Dystopia (2016)
Kiko Loureiro	2015–2023	guitars singing piano flute	Dystopia (2016) The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! (2022) "Delivering the Goods" (2022) (Non-album single)

Session

A session musician is someone hired by a band to help make music.

Name	Years in band	Instruments	Played music on
Steve Jones	1988	guitar solo on "Anarchy in the U.K."	So Far, So Good... So What! (1988)
Jimmie Wood	1994	harmonica on "Train of Consequences" and "Elysian Fields"	Youthanasia (1994)
Bob Findley	2001 2013	Trumpet on "Silent Scorn" horn on "A House Divided"	The World Needs a Hero (2001) Super Collider (2013)
Heather Keckler	2001	Talking on "The World Needs a Hero" and "1000 Times Goodbye"	The World Needs a Hero (2001)
Suzie Katayama	2001	strings on "Promises" and "Losing My Senses"
Ken Mary	2001	Pro Tools (a software used for making music)
Chris Vrenna	2001–2002	Pro Tools (a software used for making music)	The World Needs a Hero (2001) Killing is My Business... Remastered (2018)
Vinnie Colaiuta	2004	drums	The System Has Failed (2004)
Jimmie Lee Sloas		bass
Tim Akers		keyboards
Darien Bennet		singing on "Blackmail the Universe"
Eric Darken	2004, 2016	percussion	The System Has Failed (2004) Dystopia (2016)
Charlie Judge	2004, 2016	keyboards orchestral arrangments	The System Has Failed (2004) Dystopia (2016)
Michael Davis	2004	extra sounds	The System Has Failed (2004)
Lance Dean		singing
Scott Harrison		singing
Celeste Amber Montague		singing on "Blackmail the Universe"
Justis Mustaine		singing
Ralph Patlan		singing
Chris Rodriguez	2004–2011, 2016	singing	The System Has Failed (2004) United Abominations (2007) Endgame (2009) Thirteen (2011) Dystopia (2016)
Robert Venable	2004	singing	The System Has Failed (2004)
Jonathan Yudkin	2004	strings banjo	The System Has Failed (2004)
Axel Mackenrott	2007	keyboards	United Abominations (2007)
Cristina Scabbia		singing on "À Tout le Monde (Set Me Free)"
Brett Caldas-Lima		singing on "United Abominations"
Marie Soler		singing on "United Abominations"
Chris Clancy	2009	singing	Endgame (2009)
Mark Newby-Robson	2009	keyboards on "The Hardest Part of Letting Go...Sealed with a Kiss"	Endgame (2009)
David Draiman	2013	singing on "Dance in the Rain"	Super Collider (2013)
Yao Zhao		cello on "Dance in the Rain"
Tom Cunningham		Fiddle on "The Blackest Crow" violin on "Dance in the Rain"
The Shannon Rovers Irish Pipe Band (Brian Costello, Sean Costello, Mary Kate Peterson)		bagpipes on "Built for War"
Electra Mustaine		singing on "Forget to Remember" and "Beginning of Sorrow"
Sarah Phelps		singing on "Beginning of Sorrow"
Willie Gee		talks in "The Blackest Crow"
Farah Siraj	2016	singing on "The Threat Is Real" and "Poisonous Shadows"	Dystopia (2016)
Miles Doleac		talks in "Conquer or Die!"
Blair Masters		keyboards
Steve Di Giorgio	2022	bass	The Sick, The Dying...The Dead (2022)

At concerts

Picture	Name	Years in band	Instruments	Notes
	Kerry King	1984	guitars	Slayer guitarist Kerry King played with the band when Mustaine started singing. He did not stay in the band because he was in Slayer.
	Tony Laureano	2015–2016	drums	Laureano played the drums instead of Chris Adler when Adler could not play.