Megadeth and Marty Friedman may reunite on stage for the first time in 23 years next month.
According to Megadeth fanpage Megadeth Of Destruction, Friedman will join the band on February 27 at the Nippon Budokan venue in Tokyo. When asked in an interview with Next Guitar Hero about his potential appearance, Friedman simply stated “I can’t give details. But we’ll play together […] I believe it will be a magical night.”
Blabbermouth also points out that an article about the potential appearance published in Japan’s Burrn! magazine has since been taken down. Friedman joined Megadeth in 1990 and performed with the band until 2000, playing on every record between Rust In Peace and Risk. Friedman has since enjoyed a massively successful musical and acting solo career in Japan.
Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine explained in a 2022 interview that the breaking point for Friedman in the band was the “Breadline” solo on Risk.
“I’ve always believed we should give the guitar player an opportunity to do a solo that he feels is right for the song,” said Mustaine. “If someone plays something that doesn’t work for the part, then I may make some suggestions. If it’s still not happening, I might say, ‘Okay, this is what I want you to play here.’ If a lead totally doesn’t work then I’m going to do the part myself. That’s what happened [on] ‘Breadline’. And Marty Friedman quit over the solo in ‘Breadline’.”
“I said [to management], ‘Well, you have three choices. Either you mute the solo completely, have Marty come back and redo it, or I do it.’ And then I said, ‘If I do it, you’d better tell him.’ Well, I redid it and nobody told Marty. So we’re in there listening to the finished album and the solo comes on. It’s my solo, not Marty‘s… I looked at him as tears ran down his face and I knew right away that nobody had told him. I knew that was probably going to be the end of Marty Friedman.”
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