David Ellefson recently opened up about Megadeth’s tumultuous early years during an appearance on the Disturbing the Priest podcast.
The bassist described a period marked by instability and substance abuse, which plagued the band until significant changes were made towards the end of the 1980s and the early 1990s. He noted:
“Look, we were a mess. We were junkies; we were a mess. It started out as me, Dave, Chuck [Behler, drummer], and Jeff [Young, guitarist], and then it was me, Dave, and Chuck. And then it was me and Dave.”
Turning Point With New Management
The situation began to stabilize with the arrival of drummer Nick Menza and the intervention of a new manager, Ron Laffitte, as Ellefson went on to say:
“And then we got Nick Menza in the band. And then at least it was me, Dave, and Nick, then we got a good manager — Ron Laffitte came in, he had wanted to manage us for a few years.”
Under Laffitte’s guidance, who had learned from managing Aerosmith through their sobriety, Megadeth began to confront their substance abuse issues. The musician added:
“And he told us, ‘Listen, guys, it’s all yours to have, but you got to get clean.’ Of course, most of that pressure was on Dave, being the leader and the singer. And I needed to get clean too, to support [him], so we all had to do it together.”
Personal Journey To Sobriety
Ellefson, now 34 years sober, shared his personal recovery journey in a 2020 interview with The Front Row Report. He recalled his time in drug and alcohol rehab in the late ’80s, which culminated in his sobriety just before recording ‘Rust In Peace’ in 1990. He explained:
“I remember just kind of going, ‘God, my fingers hurt, my body hurts, coming off of all the drugs. And I don’t even know if I still wanna play the bass anymore.’ And this moment just followed right after where I thought, ‘Wait a minute. You started playing music for fun when you were just a kid at 11 years old. Sex and drugs just got in the way of the rock and roll. Get that out of the way, and you’ll be good.’ And that’s what happened. And quite honestly, since 1990, since I got clean back then, it’s been a wonderful and blessed life — a happy life.”
Dave Mustaine also faced well-documented struggles with substance abuse. His issues with alcohol contributed to his departure from Metallica in 1983 and continued to challenge him until he achieved sobriety in 2002.
Watch his entire conversation below.
