During a recent interview on the Loaded Radio podcast, David Ellefson, the former bassist of MEGADETH, was asked whether he would be open to rejoining the band 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 responded. “Dave‘s [Mustaine, MEGADETH frontman] 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.”
In an interview with Gastão Moreira of Kazagastão (KZG), Ellefson was asked if he felt uncomfortable discussing his former band, now that two years have passed since his departure.
“It doesn’t. It really doesn’t,” he responded. “I mean, look, I spent almost 40 years — well, this year is 40 years, coming up in June, is 40 years of when Dave [Mustaine] and I started the band. If I’m gonna disrespect that, then that’s to disrespect me. That’s to say what a loser I am, what a dumb thing I did. ‘You’re an idiot, David.’ And I’m not an idiot. It was an awesome thing. Now, was it challenging? Yeah. Did it have its hardships? Of course it did. But it also, obviously, had its big successes.
“I’m sad when I see Paul Stanley and Ace Frehley [of KISS] arguing, or whatever is going on. It’s, like, these are my heroes. And we’re all grown men now, so it’s a different kind of thing. But they’re still my heroes. And I even think about that with our fans. It’s, like, they don’t wanna see us fighting. We’re their f**king heroes, man. We changed their lives. We wrote songs that got them through good and bad times. So that’s why I don’t wanna go talk smack. I’ve had interviewers who have wanted to go there with me. I try not to take the bait. I’ve turned down some big interviews with people who wanted to address that. And I’m, like, ‘Me and Dave aren’t talking about it, so neither should you.’
“My friend Dave, despite our differences and the things we’ve gone through, we’ve been friends through better or worse — it’s like a marriage; for better or worse,” Ellefson continued. “And even though you may not be talking and you may not be hanging out together now, the truth of it is we did something that was just… Basically, it was like we were astronauts who went to the moon, man.”
Ellefson was fired from the group in May 2021 after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the 58-year-old musician leaked.
