'The End Is Near': Megadeth Announce Final Album & Tour

It’s time to wish Rust In Peace to legendary thrash metal band Megadeth, who just announced that they’d be disbanding after releasing a final album in 2026.

The group, led by guitarist and singer Dave Mustaine, shared the shock news via a video posted to social media. After posting the cryptic message, “The end is near,” earlier this week, Megadeth followed it up with a video message delivered by their mascot, Vic Rattlehead, who revealed that the band would be releasing one more album and embarking on a final tour next year.

The forthcoming album will be released via Mustaine’s own Tradecraft imprint, in partnership with Frontier Label Group’s BLKIIBLK, and is due for release early next year. Also on the agenda for 2026 is a new memoir from Mustaine.

Pre-orders for the final Megadeth album will be available in 42 days, per the band’s website.

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Mustaine offered more details behind the band’s impending breakup on the band’s blog, revealing that Megadeth are in a unique position where they can “go out on their own terms on top.”

His statement reads:

There’s so many musicians that have come to the end of their career, whether accidental or intentional. Most of them don’t get to go out on their own terms on top, and that’s where I’m at in my life right now. I have traveled the world and have made millions upon millions of fans and the hardest part of all of this is saying goodbye to them.

We can’t wait for you to hear this album and see us on tour. If there was ever a perfect time for us to put out a new album, it’s now. If there was ever a perfect time to tour the world, it’s now.  This is also a perfect time for us to tell you that it’s our last studio album. We’ve made a lot of friends over the years and I hope to see all of you on our global farewell tour.

Don’t be mad, don’t be sad, be happy for us all, come celebrate with me these next few years.  We have done something together that’s truly wonderful and will probably never happen again. We started a musical style, we started a revolution, we changed the guitar world and how it’s played, and we changed the world. The bands I played in have influenced the world. I love you all for it. Thank you for everything.

Formed by Mustaine in 1983 in the wake of his departure from Metallica, Megadeth are one of the “Big Four” of thrash metal alongside Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax. To date, the band have released sixteen albums, with their most recent LP, The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!, arriving in 2022.

Throughout their 42-year career, Megadeth have undergone many line-up changes, with Mustaine remaining as the band’s constant voice and riff master over the decades. The group’s current line-up comprises Mustaine, bassist James LoMenzo, guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari and drummer Dirk Verbeuren.

Megadeth last played in Australia in 2023, appearing at the inaugural Knotfest Australia and headlining some sideshows. Hopefully, Australia is included on the band’s farewell tour.