Dave Mustaine Talks Megadeth’s ‘Ride the Lightning’ Remake

It's official: The final Megadeth album will feature a re-recorded version of the legendary Metallica song, "Ride the Lightning." Megadeth vocalist Dave Mustaine confirmed the news in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

"It wasn't really that I wanted to do my version," Mustaine told the outlet. "I think that we all wanted it to turn out a certain way, and for me, this was about something so much more than how a song turns out. It was about respect."

The new single is a long time coming. Mustaine famously got a writing credit for "Ride the Lightning," the title track off Metallica's 1984 sophomore release, because some of the riffs that he wrote when he was a member of Metallica made it into the recording. But, Mustaine doesn't appear at all on Ride the Lighting the record, because he and Metallica parted ways in 1983. Kirk Hammett replaced him. Mustaine also talked about the metal band's version of the song on an Instagram post.

When asked about the band's re-recording of "Ride the Lightning," Mustaine said, "Our intentions were pure. I didn't have any reason I was going to say, 'Oh, hey man, this thing that we've had for 40 years where you guys will never tour with me, me doing the song is going to change things.' That wasn't it at all. It was more about: This is my life going forward. I want to do things that are respectable."

Mustaine also said that James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich of Metallica didn't know about the "Ride the Lighting" re-recording, and now that they know, they haven't contacted him.

"I think the whole purpose of this was not to try and rekindle relationships or anything," Mustaine says. "It was about showing respect to a man [Hetfield] that ... I don't believe he thinks I respect him, and I wanted to make that clear."

The final Megadeth album will arrive on Jan. 23, 2026.