Former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson has suggested he’s open to returning to the band.
Ellefson, who co-founded MEGADETH with vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine in 1984, was dismissed in 2021 after an explicit video involving a fan was leaked online. Now, three years later, Ellefson has stated that his time in MEGADETH “is never a closed chapter.”
“I mean, look, I helped start the band. I was there from the beginning,” Ellefson said in an interview with El Planeta Del Rock. “My heart and soul was in it. You’ll hear that in those songs forever. And, look, that way of life, our lifestyle, our work ethic has influenced me forever. It’s part of how I still roll now moving forward.
“So, you can’t just take that piece of your life and just pull it out and stick it on the shelf. It’s part of me. I’m always part of that. And, hey, look, we’re not sharing the stage together, we’re not doing that right now. But, yeah, my thing is, why ever close doors? It wasn’t my idea to not be there. So I’m, like, ‘Yeah, whatever. Maybe another time. Anyway, let’s go to Rome. Let’s play a show. Let’s go jam some tunes with OVERKILL.’ So, to me, it’s kind of, like, just keep moving, man. Just keep moving.”
“Look, when I went back to [MEGADETH] in 2010, it wasn’t in my rearview mirror; it was now in the front view,” he continued. “And that’s kind of how I viewed it the first time around [after MEGADETH temporarily split up in 2002, only to reform a couple of years later without Ellefson]. It was, like, ‘Well, don’t sit here and focus on the little rearview mirror. Look out the big windshield in the front and see what’s coming around,’ and that was SOULFLY and all these other kind of cool things that came around. And then one day, next thing you know, hey, wow, MEGADETH‘s in the front view again. All right, well, let’s do that for a little while. So, that’s my outlook on it.”
Ellefson previously said on Loaded Radio podcast that we would be willing to rejoin MEGADETH if they approached him in the future.
“Well, look, I’m not the one who closed the door. [Laughs] You know what I mean,” he said. “Dave‘s always gonna be my brother, man. And it’s funny, when I think about Dave — I’m just walking around the house, I’m thinking about some moment in our friendship and our history together — they’re usually fond memories.
“And look, brothers fight, brothers hug and make up, and that’s the journey. As a musical gig, it’s, like, oh, well, set that off. That’s off the palette now. Clearly I’ve moved on with other things that you can see I really enjoy. So… whatever.
“I’ve talked to other friends of mine about this who have had bands, and they’re in other bands where members have come and gone and whatever, and especially when you’re a principal, key member and a founding member and all these different things, you have a deferent kinship to your fans,” Ellefson continued. “I always say this: when you make a record, you’re making it for you. But when you put that record out, that record is for your audience. And at that point, it now becomes bigger than you; it becomes bigger than the four or five or three of you, whatever are in the band — it’s bigger than you now. And those songs are gonna outlive us. And everything about that legacy and the stories we just talked about here are now in infamy; they’re gonna last forever.
“So, for me, you’re part of a family. And look, should there ever be a family reunion? Hey, of course, I’ll always take the call,” Ellefson added. “But with that said, I’m not sitting around waiting for a MEGADETH reunion. Let’s just put it that way. I’m very forward focused right now and I’m very laser focused on what’s ahead.”
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