Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine experienced a handful of close calls that could have resulted in him quitting playing the guitar altogether. Earlier in 2002, a doctor once told him that he would never be able to play the guitar ever again due to sustaining a radial neuropathy after falling asleep with his arm over the back of a chair. At one point, we thought Mustaine was going to pull out of the Big Four in 2011 due to undergoing neck surgery. 

Megadeth are performing in China this week and  South China Morning Post spoke with Mustaine about their latest album Dystopia, enjoying Asia, and his extensive physical health conditions. Mustaine revealed one of the hardest parts during his 2014 surgery which removed a piece of bone next to his spinal cord, was not being able to headbang and that he saves everything for the tour.

“The hardest thing was not headbanging – I just do it without thinking. You don’t know what it’s like to be in my body. There are some days when my left hand can’t even play. I don’t practice – I save it all for the tour.”

It’s going to be hard for him to write the follow-up to the Grammy-winning Dystopia if he can’t write. Here’s hoping he’s getting the best physical therapy he can. 

[via MetalInjection]