In a recent interview with Stefs Rock Show, former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson discussed his 12-step recovery program and remembered coming to the realization that church wasn’t a bad place after he got sober.
“It’s funny, my pastor even did a study, or gave to the congregation a study that from about age 16 to 26, people kind of check out of church,” he explained. “That’s when we’re kind of off on our own, finding our own way. So I guess I probably kind of fit the model. And then I got sober when I was 25, in 1990, and that trajectory out of the drug-and-alcohol lifestyle back into sobriety, that’s what really kind of brought me back to going, ‘Oh, I guess the church thing ain’t so bad.’ And then it was just kind of an easy thing to sort of bring back into my life. Especially once you start having a family, you’re kind of, like, ‘All right, well, what’s sort of the barometer of right [and] wrong? What are the rules here for raising your kids?’ So, that’s my story.”
“And it was just always kind of a background story until I wrote my memoir, ‘My Life With Deth,’ the rocker continued. “And my co-author, Joel McIver, when we were writing it, I had just gone back to Megadeth in 2010, and Dave [Mustaine] was writing a book — his memoir was coming out — and Joel hit me right away. And he said, ‘Listen, you need to tell your story ’cause you and Dave are the bookends of the Megadeth story.’ And he said, ‘This would a great time for you to tell your story.’ And as I was writing it, I was, like, ‘All right, well, I don’t want to like some religious story,’ ’cause that’s not really my life. I’m a rock and roller. But I was raised around it.”
The bassist has been sober for over 30 years now and apparently, he has never been tempted by alcohol or drugs on the road.
Ellefson once recalled his worst experience with drugs in another interview with Metal Hammer. “When I got sober in 1990 it took a year until people would trust me because I was always letting them down. The 18 months before that – starting with Monsters Of Rock at Donington 1988 – were incredibly dark. That’s why Download for me is a moment where everything gets brought back home: playing the biggest shows of my life, but in my worst condition due to being a heroin addict. Every time we’ve played since is a chance to make amends.”
After moving to Arizona, Ellefson started MEGA Life, a contemporary worship service at a church in Scottsdale. This project, named after Megadeth, was a new chapter in his life. In 2012, he began his path toward ministry by joining an extension program at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.
