Jeff Young, former Megadeth guitarist, recently addressed allegations made by Dave Mustaine in an interview featured on Full in Bloom. Young directly contested Mustaine’s claims about his departure from the band and the early cancellation of an Australian tour.
When asked about Mustaine’s assertion that Young was responsible for leaving Australia early due to heroin use, Young responded with sharp criticism of the accusation.
“Yeah, that’s calling the kettle black if I ever heard,” Young said. “Blame-shifting. Is that what we call that? Cowardly lying. Buck passing. What do we call that? I think we all know who ran out of heroin. I think we all know Jeff Young didn’t have the power to cancel that tour.”
Young emphasized that he maintained a straight edge lifestyle during his time with Megadeth. He suggested this contributed to the brevity of his tenure in the band.
“I was a straight edge when I met those guys,” Young explained. “So you can imagine it wasn’t a great deal of fun for me. That probably speaks to why my tenure in the band was so short because I didn’t want to be around the junk.”
Young also noted a broader pattern of criticism from Mustaine toward former band members. “He said negative things about Chris, Marty, me, Nick,” Young stated. “It’s a tradition, you know, and all of the ex-Megadeth members, we’re all friends and we have a commiseration society. Everyone’s cool but one person.”
This recent interview represents the latest chapter in a long-standing dispute between Young and Mustaine that dates back decades. Ultimate Guitar reported that Young has previously called out Mustaine as a “pathological liar” over the narrative surrounding the ‘So Far, So Good… So What!’ tour cancellation. Young’s brief tenure with Megadeth lasted from 1987 to 1989. He appeared on the 1988 album So Far, So Good… So What!, making his time with the band notably short-lived.
Beyond the heroin accusations, Young has made more serious allegations about Mustaine’s conduct during their time together. Metal Underground documented Young’s claim that Mustaine deliberately sabotaged his equipment. “He was taking the fuses out of my amps,” Young stated. “He would put in fuses that were too low voltage so when I would go on stage they would blow up on me.” These allegations paint a picture of deliberate mistreatment that extended beyond verbal disputes.
Despite the acrimony, there have been moments of reconciliation between the two musicians. Blabbermouth reported that Young claimed to have received a new letter of apology from Mustaine less than two months prior to a 2018 report. This suggests that Mustaine has at times acknowledged wrongdoing. However, tensions have resurfaced in recent years, with Young continuing to defend his reputation against what he views as Mustaine’s revisionist history.
The feud reflects a broader pattern of conflict between Mustaine and his former bandmates. Loudwire noted that Young has criticized Mustaine for downplaying the achievements of ex-members. Mustaine reportedly suggested that only Marty Friedman—with whom Megadeth reunited in Japan—has “ever done anything significant.” This dismissive attitude toward former collaborators has fueled ongoing resentment among the band’s alumni. Young notes that they maintain a “commiseration society” united by their shared experiences with Mustaine.
