Original Megadeth guitarist, Chris Poland, spoke to eonmusic about his time in the band, why he didn't rejoin despite an offer ahead of 1990 release Rust In Peace, and his thoughts on hypothetically joining Dave Mustaine & co. on stage at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Chris made his comments while speaking exclusively to eonmusic at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California.

Revealing that he was approached to rejoin the veteran thrash act for their breakthrough Rust In Peace release, Chris, who had played on the demos for the 1990 album, said that he reconsidered when he realized that taking the job could have dire consequences for him; "It almost did happen [the reunion]", he said; "My manager, Janie Hoffman, she told me they wanted me in the band, and then she said; 'You know what? If you join that band, you’re going to die'."

The guitarist, a recovered heroin user, said that it was this realization, coupled with the offer of a solo deal that kept him from taking up the job. "I thought about it. I was going to do it, but then on the way down there I said; 'You know what? I’m not going to do it'. And she basically said; 'You have a deal; you have a record deal for your own thing that you love to do; why are you going to take a chance on joining a band where you’ve just got sober, and those guys might not be sober? And if they’re not, you know it’s only going to take a month before you start using again'."

Although admitting that he has no contact with his former band mates, Chris said that he'd be happy to get back up on stage with them, should Megadeth get inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. "Absolutely!", he enthused; adding; "I don’t have any [problem with anyone]. Like I said; everybody’s got their own life. If anybody’s got a problem with our lives before, then they should have dealt with it by now."

Read the entire interview here.

(Photo - Eamon O'Neill)