David Ellefson Open to Taking Part in Megadeth’s Farewell — If Asked

Megadeth shocked the metal world a few weeks ago with news that they’ll be calling it quits following one final global farewell tour, paired with what will be their last studio album. Details on that record remain under wraps, but the announcement has already stirred plenty of conversation among fans about what the sendoff should look like — and who should be involved.

Given Megadeth’s long and turbulent history of lineup changes, many have questioned whether the farewell tour will truly feel complete without appearances from the players who helped shape the band’s most iconic eras. While frontman Dave Mustaine has often kept a tight grip on the group’s narrative, one former member has now voiced his hopes of being included: bassist David Ellefson.

Ellefson — who co-founded Megadeth in 1983, left in 2002, rejoined in 2010, and was fired again in 2021 — addressed the topic on a new episode of The David Ellefson Show. Despite the rocky past, he admitted he’d like to have some role in Megadeth’s goodbye:

“So, there’s a lot of history here with [Megadeth]. This band started with a resentment. It started with a ‘fuck you’, Dave‘s sort of revenge against Metallica. And it wasn’t entirely that. I mean, that gets a little blown out of proportion. To some degree, Dave was his own artist away from Metallica. He had ‘Mechanix‘ and some songs before Metallica, and he certainly wrote songs after.

So I think that that’s a little unfair to paint that entirely on Dave that Megadeth was just this revenge toward Metallica. It may have been often fueled by it, but how could it not be? He was not a founding member of Metallica. He was there for, as I always call it, a year and a half in the life of Metallica. And [he] certainly changed the course of what they did. But they went on and had their own successes.

But, look, for Dave to call it quits or to retire, I should say… Farewell… I don’t even know if he’s retiring. He’s just basically saying Megadeth‘s over… Would I like to be a part of it? Yeah, of course. Who wouldn’t? I’m a founding member of it. I’m a 30-plus-year member of it. Is that gonna happen? Who knows? It’s too early to tell. I don’t know what they have planned. I have no idea what it is. They just made an announcement about it.

Do I think there should be some sort of farewell that everybody gets to participate in? I mean, look, [the] ‘Back To The Beginning‘ with Black Sabbath. Look, they made nice. They brought all four of Black Sabbath. They brought everybody back. You had Jake [E. Lee]. Now, was everybody there? No. There were some key people — Bob Daisley — some people that weren’t there.

But for the most part, they brought a lot of the people back. And just speaking of Black Sabbath, they brought the original, the core four back, and they said goodbye. Not only did they say goodbye, everybody got to say goodbye to them. And I think when you’re doing a farewell, that’s important, that you get to say goodbye and everybody gets to say goodbye to you. I think that that’s an important part of it. But that’s me. I’m not in the band anymore. I have no say in it. So that’s just me. That’s just one guy with an opinion, quite honestly.”

When co-host Josh Toomey suggested that every past member should get the chance to say farewell, Ellefson doubled down:

“Well, I strongly stand against the notion that Megadeth was only Dave Mustaine, ’cause it wasn’t. And everybody knows that. So, if Dave needs to retire, wants to retire, I get it. I understand. He’s given a lot. It’s taken a lot out of him. It’s taken certainly a toll on him, as anyone can imagine. So, look, God bless you, brother. If you’re done, this is it, you wanna go do something else with your life, spend time with your family, just not play guitar, I get it.

I mean, dude, believe me, I’m 60. There’s some days I just kind of go, ‘God, really? Should I write another album, another song? Do I really wanna go on stage?’ And the answer always comes back to yes, I do. So I do. So I can’t speak for him, and I’m not gonna speak for him. But, look, again, I haven’t talked to the guy now in four and a half years, so I have no idea what his reasoning is, what the thinking is behind it.”

Whether Mustaine will invite Ellefson — or any other former Megadeth members — into the fold for the farewell remains to be seen. But Ellefson’s comments echo what many fans are feeling: a sendoff this big might not feel complete without the musicians who helped build the band’s legacy.

[Via Blabbermouth]

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