Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson addressed his relationship with the band he co-founded decades ago. He made it clear he has moved on, in comments shared by 101 WRIF.
Ellefson explained whether he plans to stick around and watch Megadeth perform. The two acts share the main stage at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky, on Thursday, September 17, with their sets separated by roughly five hours.
“Look, to me, I don’t care anymore,” Ellefson said. “I haven’t been in Megadeth now in five years. I’ve done so much more. My musical palette is wide, it’s full. I’ve got a whole new friend group and buddy group and I’m in a new tribe. And that doesn’t negate the music and all that. Obviously, look, I was just out for two weeks with [the] Kings Of Thrash [project] playing [early Megadeth] songs probably that Megadeth won’t be playing when I see them next week.”
He went on to address whether he would watch his former bandmates perform at the festival.
“Will I stay around and see [Megadeth at Louder Than Life]? Who cares? I don’t mind. Whatever. It’s not my band anymore,” Ellefson continued. “That group, as it sits now, is not my Megadeth. So, to me, it’s Dave’s [Mustaine, Megadeth leader] band, and he’s doing his thing. And like I always said five years ago, I wish you well.”
Ellefson also reflected on his role in the band’s origins.
“I’m grateful for my time there,” he said. “The band wouldn’t have happened without me. I’m a founder of it. I helped start it, me and my friend [early Megadeth guitarist] Greg [Handevidt].”
Ellefson’s detachment traces back to how his time in Megadeth actually ended. The circumstances surrounding his departure explain much of the distance he now expresses toward the band.
Ellefson’s exit from Megadeth came in May 2021, days after sexually explicit videos and messages involving him surfaced online. The band moved swiftly. It issued a statement confirming that Ellefson was no longer part of the lineup and that the split was final.
The fallout extended into the studio. Ellefson’s bass parts on Megadeth’s album “The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!” were scrapped and re-recorded following his dismissal, effectively erasing his contributions from what became the band’s next release.
Ellefson has since pushed back on the narrative that he simply walked away. He describes the split in far more contentious terms.
Ellefson said in later remarks that he feels “a newfound liberty” after his latest exit from Megadeth. He added that he believes personal grudges played a role in his firing rather than the circumstances alone.
Since parting ways with Megadeth, Ellefson has kept busy across multiple projects, including Kings of Thrash and his current stint with Metal Church. This trajectory appears to fuel the confidence behind his latest comments about no longer needing to watch his former band from the sidelines.
