Why Megadeth Reuniting With Marty Friedman Is A Big Deal

Recently it was announced that the thrash metal legends Megadeth are planning to reunite with their former guitarist, Marty Friedman, for a special livestream performance in Tokyo, Japan. The event is slated to take place February 27th at the Nippon Budokan, and it will mark Friedman’s first time performing with Megadeth in over 23 years.

“For the first time in more than 23 years, Megadeth alumni Marty Friedman will join Megadeth on stage as the special guest for our one-off global livestream from the legendary Budokan Arena in Tokyo, Japan on February 27!

Marty and I have remained friends over 23 years, since we last played together. However, I hear his music every night, and he still is among the top guitar players I’ve ever heard. This is an amazing treat for the fans, as well as myself. To be honest, I may drift off while listening to Kiko and Marty play together!” says Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine.

Soon after Megdeth confirmed the upcoming show, Marty Friedman commented on the matter as well.

“It’s been a real long time since I’ve been on the same stage with Dave Mustaine making music, and we’ve both taken severely different paths in our life since then. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m so extremely proud of the part that I played in Megadeth’s history and Megadeth’s legacy, and I’m also very, very proud of the achievements that the band has done in my absence,” says Friedman.

“But for right now, at this moment, I just feel immense joy and serious adrenaline to look forward to playing together at this very, very cool place. So I just really wish you could be there, and I hope to see you soon.”

To this day many fans consider Friedman to be the quintessential Megadeth guitarist, provided his history and contributions to the band’s discography which include credits on their most successful and acclaimed records, namely Rust In Peace (1990) and Countdown To Extinction (1992). Not to mention, Friedman’s technical capabilities are still revered to this day as some of the most influential and virtuosic in the metal genre.

That being said, the timing of this reunion is very interesting as Megadeth only just released their new album in the second half of 2022, and it feels as if there’s already something more brewing than a simple one-off reunion show. For one, ‘reunion’ lineups are a hot selling commodity in rock and metal currently, and it’s no surprise to see Megadeth taking the opportunity to monetize their reunion with Friedman, and it’s not the first time they’ve tried to do so. Prior to Kiko Loureiro joining Megadeth as their current lead guitarist, founder Dave Mustaine reportedly was attempting to reunite the band’s ‘classic era’ lineup which included drummer Nick Menza and guitarist Marty Friedman.

While the opportunity fell through and Nick Menza has sadly passed away since, I’d wager this will likely not be the last time Friedman will be rejoining Megadeth on stage. Provided the fans have been longing for Friedman to rejoin Megadeth for quite some time and seeing now that Friedman is open to the idea of performing with them again, it’s hard to imagine that Megadeth won’t further pursue other opportunities to make this happen again, possibly in North America. Having pulled off a massively successful North American tour over the last two years with their ‘Metal Tour Of The Year’, Megadeth might be looking for other intuitive touring packages to fill seats and expand their already massive fanbase, i.e. a Marty Friedman reunion tour.

Regarding this, I also don’t think it’s a coincidence Dave Mustaine is getting in the headlines as of late, specifically on comments about touring with Metallica and his influence on the band.