MEGADETH's DAVE MUSTAINE announces three-city book tour for memoir 'In My Darkest Hour'

MEGADETH‘s Dave Mustaine has announced a three-city book tour in support of “In My Darkest Hour”, his latest memoir with Joe Layden and Da Capo, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing (GCP) and Hachette Book Group. Due on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, the memoir has become one of the most anticipated music memoirs of the fall, taking readers into Mustaine‘s battle with cancer and his fight to keep his voice, his music and his life.

Fans will have an exclusive opportunity to hear directly from Mustaine as he brings the story on the road. The three-city tour launches on publication day, September 8, with a special event in New York City presented by the Strand bookstore at the Kaufman Music Center. The evening will be moderated by Rolling Stone‘s Kory Grow and fans will have the opportunity to ask questions. Tickets include a signed copy of the book.

Mustaine will continue to celebrate his memoir launch with stops in Massachusetts and Virginia. Timed alongside MEGADETH‘s run on IRON MAIDEN‘s “Run For Your Lives” world tour 2026, the two photo opportunities give fans an additional chance to connect with Mustaine in select tour markets near the venue.

“In My Darkest Hour” full book tour dates:

Sep. 8 – New York, NY – Kaufman Music Center, 7:30-8:30 p.m
Sep. 9 – Boston, MA – Parkside Bookshop, 9-10 p.m.
Sep. 10 – Manassas, VA – Barnes & Noble, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

“In My Darkest Hour” takes readers from the treatment room to the studio as Mustaine chronicles how his diagnosis inspired him to take up the pen and guitar pick, going from radiation and chemotherapy appointments straight into hours-long recording sessions, resulting in MEGADETH‘s sixteenth studio album, “The Sick, The Dying…And The Dead!” Along the way, Mustaine details how confronting his own mortality brought him closer to his family, taught him how to ask for help, strengthened his faith, and challenged the vulnerability of his art.

Filled with perseverance, hope, and the determination to never let the bastards grind you down, “In My Darkest Hour” is a masterful portrait of a Dave Mustaine that the world has yet to see, and serves as a moving reminder that even our most invincible heroes are human.

Now, six years removed from that initial diagnosis, Mustaine and his band MEGADETH are seeing the biggest success of their 40-plus-year career with their final album and final tour. Committed to go out on top, MEGADETH‘s self-titled final studio album just debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, marking the band’s highest debut week ever on the chart.

Mustaine and his band MEGADETH are always and forever the point of no return for metal. It would be nearly impossible to conceive where heavy music and culture would’ve gone without the band founded, fronted, and fueled by vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and producer Dave Mustaine. As an early member of METALLICA, and then founder of MEGADETH, the blast radius of Mustaine‘s impact has only been magnified since 1983. Thus far, they have sold 50 million records worldwide, received a Grammy Award (with 12 additional nominations),generated billions of streams, notched nine Top 10 entries on the Billboard 200, and enthralled millions of diehard fans in arenas and stadiums across the globe. Their catalog spans indisputable classics such as the platinum “Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?” (cited at No. 8 on Rolling Stone‘s “100 Greatest Metal Albums Of All Time”),the platinum “Rust In Peace”, and double-platinum “Countdown To Extinction”, which captured No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Meanwhile, “Dystopia” notched a Top 3 debut and earned a Grammy Award in the category of “Best Metal Performance” with its title track. They only upped the ferocity with “The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!” in 2022. It saw them return to No. 3, receive a “Best Metal Performance” Grammy Award nomination for “We’ll Be Back” and garner rave reviews. In 2026 Mustaine and the band reached the apex of their success: a No. 1 debut with their self-titled final album on the Billboard 200. Along with No. 1s on seven additional Billboard charts, Mustaine and MEGADETH logged No. 1s in eleven countries. The band is currently on a multi-year farewell tour.

“Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir”, which came out in August 2010, landed at position No. 15 on The New York Times “Hardcover Nonfiction” best sellers list. The book was released in the U.S. via HarperCollins‘s It Books imprint (focusing on pop culture, sports, style and content derived from the Internet). The U.K. edition, “Mustaine: A Life In Metal”, hit bookstores in the U.K. in September 2010.