Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has taken direct aim at Dave Mustaine, responding bluntly to recent comments about why a reunion with past members may never happen.
Speaking on the ‘Quemar Un Patrullero’ podcast hosted by Argentine rock journalist Gustavo Olmedo, Ellefson reflected on his complicated history with the Megadeth frontman, describing periods of genuine friendship alongside the well documented fallout between the pair.
“When I went back to MEGADETH in 2010, [Dave and I] were close — we were really close,” Ellefson said. “I was helping him with some personal things. He became a good friend to me during that time. So there were periods of closeness as men, as brothers.”
Ellefson said the best moments between them were always the simplest.
“I found those opportunities were always the best when it was just me and Dave, when there wasn’t another person in the room… It was just me and him being brothers, [at] Starbucks drinking coffee, whatever. And those moments were genuine, they were sincere, they were heartfelt.”
Disputes over Megadeth’s final album with Ellefson
Ellefson also revisited tensions surrounding Megadeth’s 2022 album ‘The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!’, which originally featured his bass performances before they were removed after his dismissal (per Blabbermouth) .
“[Dave] didn’t wanna use any of my music [for that record]. I could tell he resented me,” Ellefson said.
He also revealed that he had written a ballad for the album that ultimately never made the cut, “It was a very good song — I think an extremely good song that has a place somewhere. But it didn’t make the record.”
Ellefson added that he also contributed lyrics to what became ‘Soldier On!’, but those contributions were later removed, “He wrote the music — it was his song — but I was invited to write the lyrics for it, which I did,” Ellefson explained. “He decided to call it ‘Soldier On!’… And he took my lyrics and everything off the record.”
Ellefson responds to Mustaine’s reunion comments
The bassist also addressed remarks Mustaine made late last year during an interview on ‘Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk’, where the Megadeth leader suggested past behaviour from a former bandmate prevented the possibility of a reunion lineup appearing at a farewell show.
Ellefson did not mince words in response:
“To have it end where it did, and then [for Mustaine] even recently to say, ‘Oh, because of what one person did, I can’t bring anyone back.’ You know what? Fk off. Just fk off.” He continued: “Who is that one person? It wasn’t me, ’cause I didn’t do anything that would prevent me from coming back at all.”
Looking back at the fallout
Ellefson was dismissed from Megadeth in 2021 after explicit messages and video involving the bassist circulated online, at the time he denied allegations that he had groomed an underage fan and filed a police report over the distribution of the footage.
Despite the public fallout, Ellefson said he has largely moved on from the situation.
“I don’t have bitterness in my heart,” he said. “I almost feel like I was set free to not have to deal with that anymore.”
Still, the long running tension between the two musicians clearly hasn’t completely faded. As Ellefson put it, sometimes the best way forward is simply to walk away.
“There’s two ways to win in tug of war. I either pull you over the line or I just drop the rope and let you fall on your ass.”
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