Megadeth finally did what they’d failed to do eleven times prior earlier this year, picking up a Grammy for Best Metal Performance for “Dystopia.” Mustaine was pretty happy about it when it happened, but in a recent interview with The Columbus Dispatch, he seemed to want more than just a Grammy win for the band he’s fronted since 1983:
“As crazy as I am, I was thinking about the Grammy the other day and (how) it was given to Megadeth. I was thinking it would surely be a lot better if it was given to Dave Mustaine and not to Megadeth. I guess you’ve got to keep the fire burning.”
First off, we’re glad he prefaced things with saying he’s crazy. The Beatles got Grammys, not John Lennon and Paul McCartney (at least until they went solo). And Devid Ellefson has been an integral part of the band, having only sat it out for six years. Sure, Mustaine wrote the majority of the album they were nominated for, and was the sole writer of “Dystopia,” but it’s for a band, not a solo artist. And he’s only as good as the people supporting him. Kiko Louriero and Chris Adler are phenomenal musicians, regardless of when they joined or how long they’ve been in the band. This isn’t the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Speaking of that institution, Mustaine says he’s confident that Megadeth will make it into the Hall:
“I’m basically in there with the Metallica thing, that was basically just a diss those guys pulled,” he said. “But it would nice to be in there on my own two feet. I’m sure at some point it will happen. You can’t create a whole frickin’ music style and not be recognized for it.”
It’s certainly not an impossibilty that they’ll at least be nominated at some point in time. And as there become less and less multi-platinum bands to nominate, you could imagine them being in the mix. But tell that to Thin Lizzy, or any number of other commercially successful hard rock bands that still have yet to be in the Hall.
