After You Lose Everything

In 1983, Dave Mustaine got kicked out of his band.

No warning or explanation—just a bus ticket home.

Mustaine spent the ride from New York to L.A. stuck somewhere between rage, disbelief, and self-pity.

But by the time he got off the bus, he’d made up his mind:

He wasn’t done. He’d build a band that was bigger. Louder. Meaner.

That idea became Megadeth.

Megadeth ascended to metal royalty, achieving global fame on their way to selling over 25 million albums.

And yet, years later, in an interview, Mustaine admitted through tears that he still felt like a failure.

Because the band he had gotten kicked out of was Metallica. And they had sold 180 million.

Another musician—Pete Best—was also fired just before his band made it big.

That band was The Beatles.

After getting kicked out in 1962, Best crashed hard for a few years. Depression, drinking, lawsuits—the rockstar spiral, with none of the fun.

But eventually, Best rebuilt. He got married, raised kids, and still played music.

Decades later, someone asked Best about getting kicked out of the biggest band to ever walk the planet.

“I’m happier than I would’ve been with The Beatles,” he said. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Both Dave Mustaine and Pete Best were cast out of greatness.

One chased what he lost.

The other learned to love what he found.

See you Monday,
Mark

P.S. Both Mustaine and Best had to figure out what to do next. Same crossroads, different people, completely different outcomes. That’s what my episode How to Change Your Life, Solved is about—why change is so hard even when you want it, and what the research says actually works. This might be the most useful episode we’ve ever done. I’d listen to every second of it.

Listen to How to Change Your Life, Solved →