Ellefson On Getting Fired From Megadeth: “feel like I got kicked out of hell”

Former Megadeth bassist, David Ellefson, recalled and shared the time when he was kicked out of the prominent metal band.

As per Ellefson, it all started when the band is recording their Supercollide album in 2013. It was when the track, “Kingmaker,” was already done when the feud between him and Dave Mustaine began. The bassist recalled:

“The record was done, or at least my bass parts were,” Ellefson explained. “And Dave, at the end of the session, at the end of the day, he said to me, he said, ‘Hey, man. If you wanna go through the record, if there’s anything you wanna add or tweak or change, blah blah blah blah,’ giving me free license to do so, ’cause he had signed off on everything. So [I said], ‘All right. No problem.’

“So after he left, me and [then-Megadeth guitarist] Chris Broderick and [producer] Johnny K sat in the studio and I said, ‘You know, I do have this one little bit, this little thing,’ and I showed it to them, and Broderick goes, ‘Dude, that would be really cool at the beginning of ‘Kingmaker’.’ And I said, ‘Huh. Interesting idea.’ … We were all excited.”

However, Mustaine walks in the next day in a much different mood. As per Ellefson:

“Grumpy, I might add [laughs] and not feeling so joyous as the night before. And I think either me or Johnny said, ‘Hey, I’ve got something I want you to listen to that we worked on last night.’ And there was this kind of disapproving look. And Johnny plays it for him, all excited. ‘Cause I think the three of us all heard the same thing: ‘Hey, if you wanna add anything, if you wanna work on anything, please do.’ Well, Dave didn’t seem to maybe remember that conversation. And what he walked into was, ‘Why the hell are you messing with my song?’ And I think he pulled Broderick aside and said, ‘Don’t you dare add David Ellefson’s stuff to my songs.'”

Because of that, the songwriting work between him and Mustaine has ended. In 2021, Ellefson was officially ousted from the band due to his viral sex scandal which is, for him, “abusive.” Ellefson then returned in The Lucid with Sponge’s Vinnie Dombroski and Fear Factory’s Mike Heller.

Even though that the situation happened several years ago, that hasn’t stopped Ellefson from commenting on his firing from Megadeth. He added:

“I kind of saw the events of last year as just the perfect opportunity to choose box office over brotherhood,” Ellefson said in his recent interview video.

“I look back at it now and I feel like I got kicked out of hell. So, whatever.”

Ellefson continued:

“It was just abusive. It was unnecessary. … Dave even said he had a resentment toward me that he couldn’t let go.”

Ellefson will join another ex-Megadeth member, guitarist Jeff Young, on The MEGA Years tour in the US. Their assembled band, Kings of Thrash, will perform two early Megadeth albums in full. Guitarist Chris Poland, another former Megadeth musician, will appear as special guest. Meanwhile, Megadeth is currently on a trek across North America until October.