📍La Mesa, CA, USA
1961 – 1981“David Scott Mustaine was born in September 1961 in La Mesa, a suburb east of San Diego, the youngest of four children of Emily and John Mustaine, with three older sisters. His mother was of German Jewish ancestry, and the family were Jehovah's Witnesses. His parents split up when he was young, and his relationship with his father was difficult; he learned about him mostly through his sisters' stories. His mother raised him in the faith, and money was tight. Dave grew up feeling unsettled, and found refuge in music. He took up the guitar as a boy and was drawn to heavy, aggressive rock, from Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands like Iron Maiden and Motörhead. He was fiercely independent, and as a teenager he left his mother's home in La Mesa and supported himself, practising guitar relentlessly and developing his fast, precise style. He played in his first band, Panic, in the Los Angeles area. In 1981 he answered an advertisement and became Metallica's first lead guitarist, writing parts of several of their early songs, but in 1983 he was dismissed from the band. Hurt and determined to prove himself, he formed Megadeth in Los Angeles, playing faster and heavier than ever, and with albums like Peace Sells and Rust in Peace, Megadeth became one of the great bands of thrash metal. He won a Grammy in 2017, and he has written openly about his difficult childhood and his recovery.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today