Newly hired Megadeth guitarist Jay Reynolds (of Malice) had commissioned Young, his guitar teacher, to play all of his solos on the new album, transcribe the previous Megadeth releases, and teach him everything in time for the pending tours. However, after witnessing Young transcribe Chris Poland's solos from Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? in less than 30 minutes, frontman Dave Mustaine decided instead to hire Young. Young joined the band with only two weeks left in the recording schedule and contributed half of the guitar solos and multiple electric and acoustic rhythm parts to the album.[citation needed]
In 1989, Young was fired from Megadeth due to reportedly "contemplating putting the moves on Diana" (Mustaine's fiancé)[2] Young said he told Mustaine that this was untrue, but Mustaine fired him anyway.
In the 1990s, Young stepped away from his career to deal with the untimely deaths of first his father and later his mother while studying music styles such as classical, flamenco, gypsy jazz.
In 1998, he resurfaced with new Brazilian musical partner and wife, Badi Assad. Together, they released Chameleon on Verve/PolyGram records. The album reached the top of the world music charts in Germany & Holland, also topping JAZZIZ magazine's Readers Poll: "Best Brazilian Albums of the Year."
Opening concerts for artists including Joe Cocker and Cassandra Wilson, as well as performances on 1999's Lilith Fair and Farm Aid 2000, Young has had songwriting collaborations with Sérgio Assad and wrote two pieces on Badi's Verde album.
In 2003, the track "Waves" from Chameleon was featured in the Michael and Kirk Douglas film It Runs in the Family.
Equilibrium
In late October 2009, his debut solo album, Equilibrium, was released after he began working on the album in 2000. Stylistically, the album features flamenco, classic, 6 & 12 steel-string guitar styles as well as the electric guitar. Equilibrium features guest performances by Debby Holiday, Twinkle, Gilli Moon, Lenine, Matt Chamberlain, Hilary Jones, Tony Franklin and Viviana Guzman.[3]
Other projects
Young hosted the Internet radio show Music Without Boundaries on the Spreaker broadcast network.[4]
Young has written, produced & released solo, instrumental music on the High-Tone Eleven Records label. His first, Revolutions, was released track by track with the singles, "Monsoon" – "In the Flesh" & "Slow Burn". Revolutions features performances from Tina Guo, Ric Fierrabracci, James LoMenzo, Brian Tichy, Jeff Bowders & Shane Gaalaas.
In 2022, Young reunited with former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson to form Kings of Thrash in order to perform old Megadeth songs live. The band have completed tours in North America, Australia, the UK and Europe, with one live album released. Some shows have featured fellow former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland.
On January 22, 2025, Young was inducted into the Metal Hall of Fame, performing at the event which took place at the Grand Theater in Anaheim, California.[5]
↑The Scorpion (December 29, 2007). "SCORPION Q+A". Megadeth.com. Retrieved December 9, 2022. Jeff Young, former guitarist for the Megadeth, was apparently contemplating putting the moves on Diana, much to the dismay of Mustaine, which was part of the reason that he was fired from the band. Happy New Year mates!
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