Editing Dave Mustaine (section)

== Early life ==

Mustaine was born on September 13, 1961,<ref name=McIver/> in [[La Mesa, California]],{{Sfn|Layden|2011}} (a nearby suburb of [[San Diego]]) to parents Emily Marie (''[[née]]'' David) and John Jefferson Mustaine. His father was of French, German, Irish, and Finnish descent,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.is.fi/viihde/art-2000000385739.html |title=Megadeth-laulaja pelästyi: "Voi Luoja, kuolen Venäjällä" |website=[[Ilta-Sanomat]] |date=March 17, 2011 |publisher=[[Sanoma]] |access-date=April 25, 2017 |language=fi |quote=Suomalaiset sukujuuret isänsä puolelta omaavalla Davella |archive-date=November 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123133023/https://www.is.fi/viihde/art-2000000385739.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mtv.fi/viihde/musiikki/artikkeli/dave-mustaine-kaveeraa-suomalaiskiekkoilijoiden-kanssa/2869740 |title=Dave Mustaine kaveeraa suomalaiskiekkoilijoiden kanssa |website=MTV.fi |date=February 4, 2008 |publisher=[[Bonnier Group]] |access-date=April 25, 2017 |language=fi |quote=Minulla on myös osittain suomalaiset sukujuuret |archive-date=April 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425192912/http://www.mtv.fi/viihde/musiikki/artikkeli/dave-mustaine-kaveeraa-suomalaiskiekkoilijoiden-kanssa/2869740 |url-status=live }}</ref> while his mother was of [[History of the Jews in Germany|German Jewish]] ancestry.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Arts-and-Culture/Music/Proving-its-mettle-369390|title=Heavy metal band Megadeth is dead set on performing in Israel|website=The Jerusalem Post &#124; JPost.com|date=August 2, 2014 |access-date=December 10, 2018|archive-date=June 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626202656/https://www.jpost.com/Arts-and-Culture/Music/Proving-its-mettle-369390|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://metalinjection.net/mustaine-mania/dave-mustaine-thinks-jews-arent-metal|title=Dave Mustaine Thinks Jews Aren't Metal; Wanted Marty Friedman To Change His Name|date=March 29, 2012|website=Metal Injection|access-date=February 23, 2020|archive-date=February 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223031447/https://metalinjection.net/mustaine-mania/dave-mustaine-thinks-jews-arent-metal|url-status=live}}</ref> The Mustaine family were [[Jehovah's Witnesses]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Bresky|first=Ben|date=August 8, 2005|url=http://megadeth.rockmetal.art.pl/interviews_hitparader1987.html|title=Megadeth Play Israel|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192141/http://megadeth.rockmetal.art.pl/interviews_hitparader1987.html |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |access-date=June 6, 2022}}</ref>

Mustaine had three older sisters, Michelle, Suzanne, and Debbie, who were 18, 15, and 3 respectively when he was born. Due to the significant age difference between Mustaine and his sisters, as a child he often thought of them as his aunts rather than sisters. Mustaine has described family life as tumultuous during his early life, lamenting years later that "life unraveled in a great many ways" for his family before he was born. Mustaine has described his father as "a very smart and successful man, good with his hands and head" who was a branch manager for [[Bank of America]] before moving to [[NCR Voyix|NCR]], where the corporation's transition from mechanical to electrical technology ultimately made him expendable and cost him his job. A longtime problem drinker, John Mustaine's issues with alcohol only grew worse from then on, and he left his four-year-old son permanently after Emily divorced him in 1965.<ref name="mustaine-memoir">{{cite book |last1=Mustaine |first1=David |title=Mustaine: A Life in Metal |date=September 16, 2010 |publisher= [[HarperCollins|HarperCollins UK]]|isbn=9780007324132}}</ref>