Dave Mustaine Advises Yungblud to 'Take a Break' to Avoid Sounding Generic
Dave Mustaine Advises Yungblud to 'Take a Break' to Avoid Sounding Generic
Jason BrowThu, February 5, 2026 at 10:28 PM UTC
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(Photo by Johnny Nunez on Getty Images)
After an award-winning performance at Ozzy Osbourne’s final show and recent collaborations with The Smashing Pumpkinsand Aerosmith, Yungbludseems poised to be the next “rockstar” for a new generation. The 28-year-old British singer seems happy to represent the spirit of rock and roll, but one of his elders suggests he shouldn’t be so eager.
That person is Dave Mustaine, the legendary guitarist who has led Megadeth for the past forty years. Mustaine, 64, will be calling it a career—Megadeth just released what will be their final album ahead of a lengthy farewell tour. But before Mustaine rides off into the sunset, he has some advice for younger metalheads and rock stars, specifically Yungblud.
During an interview with NME, journalist Liberty Dunworth asked Mustaine if she was familiar with Yungblud. “No,” he said. Dunworth explained that the 28-year-old had won over Mustaine’s fellow veteran rockers before asking if Yungblud could “carry the torch for a new generation of metal and rock fans” by himself.
“Perhaps,” said Mustaine. “But when you say somebody is working with everybody, that to me means they’ve reached a point where they need to either take a break, or find something else [to separate them from the pack] because you run the risk of your song sounding like the last person’s song, which then sounds like the last person’s song.”
When asked if this means Mustaine won’t release a song with Yungblud anytime soon, Dave made it clear it wasn’t personal to the “Zombie” singer.
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“As far as me knowing any young bands or artists that I wanna work with?” he pondered. “If I was going to work with anybody right now, I’d keep working with Megadeth.”
Related: Legendary Metal Band Reaches New High With Final Album
Megadeth will be going out on a high. Megadeth, their 17th and final album, debuted atop the Billboard 200 Albums chart. It’s the band’s first No. 1 album in their 40-year run. The highest they reached before was No. 2 in 1992 with their thrash metal classic, Countdown to Extinction.
Finding out that our last Megadeth record is also our first #1 only further validates my will to go out on top,” said Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine in a statement. “This recording is a labor of love, and I hope you enjoy this as much as we do. See you on tour soon!”
Related: Metal Legend Dave Mustaine Wants to Play His Final Show in an Odd Location
This story was originally published by Parade on Feb 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
