Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson recently opened up about his former bandmate Dave Mustaine’s motivation after being kicked out of Metallica. He shared insights about the drive that fueled Megadeth’s formation in an interview with The Metal Voice.
Ellefson addressed whether Mustaine’s exit from Metallica pushed him to work harder and form a rival band. When asked directly about Mustaine’s attitude toward his former band, Ellefson provided candid insights into his bandmate’s mindset.
“Well, I think that was very clear. I mean, that was the motivation to follow. Look, that was his that was his bitch, I guess. Right? But it ain’t my bitch. Right? But it was his bitch, you know?” Ellefson said. “And, you know, that drove him. That motivated him.”
The bassist explained how people’s reactions to Mustaine further fueled his determination.
“I always saw it when people saw Dave and they go, ‘Metallica.’ Like, it was they weren’t dissing him, like, dude, you’re not even a Metallica anymore. They were, you know, f*ck you, dude. You’re from Metallica. Like, that’s how cool is that,” he continued. “So I don’t know that feeling, because, I guess, for me, I knew our band was on the rise.”
Ellefson contrasted his own perspective with Mustaine’s. He described himself as more optimistic about Megadeth’s trajectory.
“We were working hard. We were doing good things. Metallica was knocking down the doors in front of us for all of us to walk through, so I guess I was maybe in the best position. And it’s sort of my nature, I guess, to be the optimist, to be the glass half full,” he said. “Look, we lived in LA, KNE, was a huge metal, you know, terrestrial radio station, and they played cool stuff. They were the cool metal station. So they always had managed for Metallica, Metallica Monday, and you know, you couldn’t get away from it. I mean, they were clearly the band on the rise, so it was pretty hard not to hear Metallica everywhere you go.”
Ellefson’s comments provide insight into one of metal’s most significant turning points. A bitter dismissal ultimately led to the creation of one of thrash metal’s most influential bands.
The circumstances surrounding Mustaine’s departure from Metallica were particularly harsh and abrupt. Loudwire reported that on the morning of April 11, 1983, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Cliff Burton woke up a hungover Mustaine and informed him he was out of the band without prior warning. The firing came after a series of incidents involving Mustaine’s heavy drinking and erratic behavior, including physical altercations with bandmates.
The dismissal was swift and decisive. Ultimate Classic Rock noted that Mustaine was given a one-way bus ticket to Los Angeles while Metallica had already recruited Kirk Hammett as his replacement. This sudden ejection from what would become one of metal’s biggest bands left Mustaine with a burning desire for revenge and validation.
However, this rejection became the catalyst for something extraordinary. Collider revealed that during his four-day bus ride home, an enraged Mustaine began writing new material, including the phrase “The arsenal of megadeth cannot be rid” that would inspire his new band’s name. He quickly formed Megadeth in Los Angeles. He channeled his anger and determination into creating music that would rival his former band’s success.
Ellefson played a crucial role in this transformation. He became Mustaine’s partner in building Megadeth from the ground up. The bassist, whom Mustaine met soon after returning to California, became the band’s co-founder and contributed to the early demos that would establish their sound. Their partnership endured through decades of lineup changes and personal tensions. Ellefson later reflected on how Mustaine’s post-Metallica intensity served as a creative fire that drove the band to achieve multi-platinum success and cement their place in thrash metal history.
