Teemu Mäntysaari

Mäntysaari was born in Pälkäne, Finland, on 7 January 1987. His main interest as a child was sports. He played football, ice hockey and floorball in local teams. He started playing the acoustic guitar at the age of 12 and soon after picked up the electric guitar.^[1]

In 2004, Mäntysaari joined the melodic death metal band Wintersun^[2][3] and has toured with them since then. He also played for Imperanon^[4] until their breakup in 2007. He has written many unreleased songs with Imperanon.

He has also played for Smackbound since 2015.^[5][6]

On 5 September 2023, Mäntysaari stepped in as lead guitarist on Megadeth's North American tour as regular guitarist Kiko Loureiro tended to undisclosed family matters. He was appointed on Loureiro's recommendation.^[7]

On 21 November 2023, Megadeth band leader Dave Mustaine released an official statement, announcing that the band is "going to move forward with Teemu Mäntysaari as the guitar player for Megadeth" while Loureiro stays on an indefinite hiatus.^[8] This became permanent as Loureiro announced his departure from Megadeth later that month.^[9]