Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine: Mega-Ready for a Grammy : The singer-guitarist--who was fired 10 years ago by Metallica--says of his band’s nomination for this year, ‘Either the third time is the charm, or three strikes and you’re out.’

“It’s like seeing your old girlfriend become a movie star,” Megadeth’s singer-guitarist Dave Mustaine says of Metallica, the band that fired him in 1983 and achieved huge commercial success in 1991. The fact that his former group has won three Grammys in the last three years only compounds the indignity.

But Metallica didn’t release any recordings during the eligibility period for this year’s awards, making Megadeth’s album “Countdown to Extinction” the favorite in the metal competition at Wednesday’s ceremonies.

“I wish (Metallica) continued success,” Mustaine says with a laugh, “but not for much longer. There’s still space on my mantle (for a Grammy) . . . and a big hole where the other two should have been. This is our third nomination, and either the third time is the charm, or three strikes and you’re out.”

Megadeth (whose surprise show at the Palace tonight was canceled when Mustaine came down with a sore throat this week) formed in 1985 and has enjoyed platinum sales and critical success with such politically and personally pointed albums as “Peace Sells . . . but Who’s Buying?” But heroin and alcohol abuse not only led to Mustaine’s departure from Metallica, but also nearly brought a premature end to his career and life.

Now with a wife, a 1-year-old son and a solid career that he’s obsessed with turning into an even bigger success, the several-years sober Mustaine still battles what he calls “the dragon that lives inside,” referring to his addictive personality in Chinese philosophical terms.

“It’s a disease that will never go away,” he says, sitting in a conference room at Capitol Records’ Hollywood headquarters. “I pick up my son and think, ‘If you knew what a rotten, lousy scum your father used to be. You only know him as this cry-baby old man who loves hugging you.’ ”

Like his music, Mustaine’s speech is often rapid-fire. But he chooses his words carefully as he blurts out a capsule version of his life story with amused detachment.

“I was born in La Mesa, Calif., and I grew up up and down the coast, spent a brief stint in Idaho skiing, moved to San Francisco for a while, starved to death, ate bologna, stole vodka, moved to New York, got fired (from Metallica), rode home in a bus and wrote hateful Megadeth lyrics.”

Mustaine’s outspokenness earned him a stint as one of MTV’s political correspondents at the Democratic convention last summer, and while it’s clear that he enjoys the attention that comes with the spotlight, he rails against the lack of privacy and the temptations that come with the territory.

“It’s tough for me to be on the road with all the girls and drugs and traveling and fans and stuff, because, I mean, face it, you have thousands of people every day telling you what a fabulous blah, blah, blah you are, and after a while, you start believing it.”

Unlike many metal musicians, however, Mustaine isn’t afraid to give credit where it’s due: in this case, to God. “That guy’s my leader,” he says, raising his eyes heavenward. “I read the Bible, I pray a lot. I talk to him every day. I spend a lot of time pondering the unponderable, reading philosophical stuff, spiritual stuff, theoretical stuff.”

It’s not typical territory for a rock star, and Mustaine is not afraid to admit ignorance--and an accompanying thirst for knowledge.

“Sometimes I vacillate between being cooler than thou and holier than thou, then I become stupider than thou,” he says. “No matter what, though, my guardian angel has got to be on steroids for hanging in with me as long as he did.”