I was tuning up when all the other guys in the band were in another room. In his own words, Mustaine remembers his first meeting with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich: 'I was convinced that I should be in the band and went to rehearsal. Metallica's drummer had posted an ad in a local newspaper, The Recycler, looking for a lead guitarist. In 1981, Mustaine left Panic to join Metallica as the lead guitarist. Half of its members and Another one died. He was part of the band as the guitar before Mustaine joined Metallica. Mustaine is of Irish, Finnish and French descent, on his father's side, and a German Jew, on his mother's. Rich and joined a band known as Panic for a short time.
In the late 1970s, Mustaine started to play electric guitar, most notably a B.C. One of his clients was often short of cash, but worked in a record store, so she offered him albums by artists such as Iron Maiden, AC/DC, and Judas Priest in trade, which helped form his taste in heavy metal. By the age of 15, Mustaine had rented his own apartment and was surviving financially by dealing drugs. When his parents divorced, he spent much of his youth with his mother and sisters moving constantly to avoid contact with his father.
Mustaine was born on September 13, 1961, in La Mesa, California, to Emily and John Mustaine.