Former longtime Megadeth bassist David Ellefson was fired from the band in 2021 following an explicit video text exchange with a fan that was leaked to social media. Ellefson was accused of grooming underage girls, though the woman clarified quickly that the relationship was consensual and that she was of legal age at the time of the interactions. Still, Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine saw it as a bridge too far and fired him.
Ellefson has been asked about his former band several times in the years since, and while he has been slightly critical of Mustaine, he still hopes to be included in some way for the band’s upcoming arewell tour. He told Argentina’s UnDinamo – La Última Radio De Rock: “I have always said that I am available for that. And I would do it because I think any reason that I’m not there now is unfounded. It’s untruthful and it’s unfair because clearly there’s nothing wrong. So, I would hope and even pray that any misunderstanding, any bitterness would be removed, that that would somehow be dissipated.”
Ellefson continued: “It’s funny — you make your first record, you have no fans,” he continued. “You just make your first album. Then you start to get fans who say, ‘Hey, give us more.’ So you make album two, like we do. And then at that point, you — I feel — have an obligation to listen to your fans. You don’t have to do everything they say, like, ‘Make ‘Rust In Peace Part II’,’ ’cause creatively the spirit leads you where it’s supposed to go. But I think, especially when you’re playing concerts — making albums is music business; playing concerts is show business. They’re two separate things that kind of come together. When the fans, who have made all of this possible, really, ’cause Capitol Records wouldn’t have signed us if we didn’t have fans. Live Nation doesn’t book the concert if there’s no fans. So, the fans are the entire reason that you live to have album two and beyond. Album two and beyond is because of fans. So, to me, you give them what they want.”
He concluded: “Look, if it were just me and Dave sitting here, I’m sure everything would be fine, but there’s a lot of people with influences, and that can be sticky. So my hope is that the voice of the fans gets louder than any other voice that would tear it apart.”
Check out Ellefson’s full interview below.
