Born in the wake of Dave Mustaine's dismissal from Metallica, Megadeth are arguably the most complex and integral of the big four thrash bands.
Megadeth's muscianship has been the cornerstone of the band's popularity. Though Mustaine is the only consistent member throughout the group's history, he has proven as talented at surrounding himself with extraordinary musicians as he is at playing guitar and writing instantly memorable thrash tunes.
While Megadeth's lineup seems an ever-evolving roster of metal's elite, below is a visual guide by year of the band's past and present members - and yes, Kerry King did play briefly with Megadeth during the group's embryonic stage.
“Malcolm said, ‘I've got this riff, it's driving me nuts.’ It's three o'clock in the morning and I'm trying to sleep. I said, ‘It sounds fine to me.’ That was Back in Black”: Through 50 years of triumph and tragedy, they remain hard rock's greatest titans
“There’s a lot of power to our band name… we weren’t part of any scene, so it was like, ‘Who are we? We are The Damn Truth’”: Meet the Canadian quartet bringing their raucous sound to the masses – with a little help from Bob Rock
