Kiko Loureiro has stepped back from his time in Megadeth due to personal and familial engagements. However, that’s not stopping him from talking about his time in the band and some of the band’s former members. He was in Megadeth for nine years and made quite the impression as a fan favorite. Loureiro announced back in November that he was leaving Megadeth and Finnish guitarist Teemu Mantysaari was named as his replacement.

That November statement was unclear as to if Kiko was actually leaving Megadeth for good or just taking a leave of absence. In a new interview with Guitar World, he set the record straight about the band, and bringing back Marty Friedman.

“Actually, I even mentioned to management and Dave that I thought bringing Marty Friedman back would be amazing. I have no idea if they’re talking about it or talking to him, but I did say that. But again, I have no idea beyond that, and I don’t want to make anything more complicated.”

Marty Friedman joined Megadeth on stage for two shows earlier last year and rocked the metal world. The shows were wild successes and brought on rumors and clamoring for Friedman to join the band once again.

Later in the interview, Kiko also talked about his time in Megadeth and the crew.

“The fans never said anything bad about me or complained, which was amazing. But I’m a fan, and I always understood that Marty was a part of those iconic albums like ‘Rust in Peace’ and ‘Countdown to Extinction.’ I understood that Marty was the guy who helped create that sound and style, you know? From the moment I joined Megadeth, I knew the fans could show me love, but I would never win their hearts over Marty.”

Megadeth’s Future Plans

Check Out Marty Friedman Reuniting With Megadeth In Tokyo

Megadeth is currently moving on with a tour with Teemu Mantysaari as guitarist, who was hand-picked by Kiko to replace him. As for Kiko’s official status, it looks like he won’t be returning to the band based on his comments. Here’s what Dave Mustaine had to say about the whole thing.

“Kiko’s not in Megadeth right now. He had some stuff that was going on with his family and he had to leave the band. So we’re actually getting ready to say something about that. So we’re leaving things status quo right now with [Teemu Mäntysaari]. Kiko let us know things are going okay now. But we’re going to be making an official statement soon.”

Megadeth are taking on the Crush the World Tour in 2024. You can grab tickets for their tour dates here.

For more on Metal, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.

Source: Guitar World

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