Former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman has shared the reason why, back in 2015, he rejected Megadeth's invitation to reunite the celebrated Rust In Peace lineup. According to Friedman, the “salary offer” was as low as what he was offered in 1990 when he first joined Megadeth.
Following the departures of drummer Shawn Drover and guitarist Chris Broderick in 2014, Friedman met Dave Mustaine and then-bassist David Ellefson at the 2015 NAMM Show in Anaheim, California, to discuss a potential reunion. This discussion included bringing him and drummer Nick Menza back into the mix.
However, as Friedman reveals in his recently released autobiography, Dreaming Japanese, the amount Megadeth's then-manager Ron Lafitte offered was abysmal.
“Let's just say he wasn't even in the ballpark,” he writes [via Blabbermouth]. “Hell, he wasn't even in the parking lot for the ballpark. The amount they offered was right around the first salary I got when I joined Megadeth in 1990.
“If I'd had any idea they would lowball me like this, I never would have met with them in Anaheim. Had I taken that offer, I would have been paid less in a week than I made on a normal day in Japan.”
He continues, “I was stunned and angry and told them I couldn't even consider it. I made a counteroffer, which was the bare minimum I could accept, and far less than I have received from any of the artists I've toured with in Japan.”
Lafitte had floated the possibility of a Megadeth-Iron Maiden tour, which initially made the proposition attractive. In fact, Friedman was “willing to take the financial hit” because such a bill “could open doors for me again in America.”
“Even if they met my rate, the tour would have been a huge windfall for them. They easily could have agreed to that, and the reunion would have been on, but they said I wanted too much money.”
Friedman concludes that he was “happy with my career in Japan, doing what I loved, making real money without the kind of drama that comes with Megadeth.”
He adds that the band hadn’t even acknowledged that they had just lost a drummer and a guitarist, and “needed me more than I needed them. When I got over my initial anger, I was puzzled and sad.”
In an exclusive excerpt from his new autobiography hosted by Guitar World, Friedman told the inside story of his auditions with Ozzy Osbourne and Madonna – and how he eventually landed the Megadeth gig.
- Marty Friedman’s autobiography, Dreaming Japanese, is out now via Permuted Press.
