In a new interview with Chris Akin Presents, former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson was asked about how he is “creating the next chapter” of his story that doesn’t involve him in the historic past” but involves him “being happier and more creative as a person and as a musician.” He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I always joked my third memoir will be ‘My Life After Deth’. But you’ve gotta go live that life before you can write that book, before you can tell that story. And that’s what this is.”
He continued: “My life was always more than MEGADETH. I was more than that before we started the band. And I dedicated my life to that group. When we formed that band, man, especially those first 20 years there, 18 years before [MEGADETH leader] Dave [Mustaine] quit the group, I gave everything to that band. And once he quit the group, then at that point I decided, ‘Okay, I’m not gonna put my life in the hands of one person who can just stop the train anymore ever again.’ And that’s fine. That was okay. That was just an X-Y axis moment in life. And that’s just that moment where you just kind of go, ‘Okay, what else is there?’ And again, rather than get bitter, I tried to get better. I ran artist relations for Peavey, I went to college, I raised my family, I had a whole other life that I did, that I mostly talked about when I went back to MEGADETH in 2010, in my book ‘My Life With Deth’. Because that was kind of this balancing act of growing up, having a life, transitioning from just a young boy to a young man, to an adult, to growing up while also being inside of this very explosive rock group that certainly made a lot of headlines but didn’t have a lot of stability in it. It had a lot of just all that fireworks and all that it is. And that’s what made it such great rock and roll. Great rock and roll always needs to feel like it’s about ready to go off the tracks. I mean, no truer words have been said than ‘crazy train’. That’s why I think we all like that song. But that’s what it is. And then there comes a point in life where you’re kind of, like, ‘Okay, there’s a proverb that says, ‘When the boy grows into a man, the man has to let go of the boyish ways.’ So you go through this transition in life where you kind of figure out — they call it adulting. So you’d say, ‘All right, this is what this is.’ So you go through that phase. And I think then for me, you kind of enter the next phase where you kind of go, well, adulting and growing up ain’t all it’s cracked up to be either.”
Ellefson added: “Music keeps us young. There’s another line — childlike faith. Never lose that little spark inside when a child discovers something new and fresh and opens that Christmas present, that new toy at Christmas. There’s something about that that’s also hardwired in us as people. And I think music connects us. I just saw it at the [Rock ‘N’ Roll] Fantasy Camp. These are a bunch of adults all coming together to sort of stop the world for four or five days. ‘Let’s go hang out and rock.’ And I find that if you don’t live a disastrous lifestyle on the road, rock and roll has kept me young at heart. I see it with many of my other friends. Everybody goes, ‘Oh my God, THE ROLLING STONES.’ It’s, like, yeah, there’s a reason they’re still alive. ‘Cause they fucking get the rock and roll every night. KISS, everybody. Again, assuming you’re not just destroying your life with dope and booze and kind of that whole lifestyle, which is really not around and really it’s certainly not acceptable anymore. I think music — it doesn’t have to just be rock and roll — but music, it always finds a way and weaves itself into your life and into your lifestyle. That is the story. And for me, it’s the bass. The bass has been in my life — thank God the bass found me, ’cause I can’t say that I found it. I found me at age 11. And thank God it’s been my sidekick through my whole life. It’s still here with me. I can still play it reasonably well. And I figured — I think we’re kind of in it for life, me and that bass. So, let’s go keep telling the story.”
Ellefson recently announced his “Bass Warrior” European tour for March 2026. The trek will feature Ellefson and his solo band performing select cuts from his well-known catalog of MEGADETH hits, including MEGADETH’s “Countdown To Extinction” album in its entirety, solo material and other hard rock and metal favorites which inspired him during his 40-year music career. Direct support on all dates will come from MADO.
Ellefson launched his “Bass Warrior” tour in 2024, accompanied by guitarist and musical director Andy Martongelli (ELLEFSON-SOTO, ARTEMIS),as a way to perform songs for fans across Europe from his 40-plus years as a world-renowned recording artist.
Ellefson was originally in MEGADETH from the band’s inception in 1983 to 2002, when the group briefly broke up because MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine suffered severe nerve damage that left him unable to play.
Mustaine reformed MEGADETH 22 years ago. Originally setting out to record a solo album, Mustaine enlisted studio musicians to play on what ultimately became MEGADETH’s 2004 “The System Has Failed” comeback album, subsequently recruiting former ICED EARTH bassist James MacDonough to take Ellefeson’s place for the album’s touring cycle.
Ellefson sued Mustaine in 2004 for $18.5 million, alleging that the MEGADETH guitarist/vocalist still owed him substantial merchandise and publishing royalties. In January 2005, the case was dismissed in court, and five years later, Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH.
In his first book, Ellefson admitted that he became a salaried employee upon his return to MEGADETH 15 years ago. He told Metal-Rules.com in an interview: “Going from being a co-founding owner to just a sideman musician was initially why I didn’t come back in 2004. I was not happy with the participations that were presented to me. In recent times, coming back, I found great joy in doing music with a lot of other people in other settings that helped me fall back in love with playing music. Now I can come back into or go into musical situations and be able to be there for a purpose and level of pay. Being a sideman absolves you from being involved in all the other stuff. At this point in my life, I would rather leave that stuff on the sidelines. Like American Express says, ‘membership has its privileges,’ being a sideman has its benefits. In my case, it helps retain a friendship too. In order to have a friendship, I had to give up some ownership.”
During a February 2021 appearance on Mitch Joel’s “Groove – The No Treble Podcast”, Ellefson reflected on his legal battle with Mustaine, saying: “I firmly believe Dave and I ended up in that situation because he and I were not directly communicating. There was a new manager, a new lawyer, a new team of people, and they were all trying to impress the client, so they were just, ‘Well, we’re just doing whatever the boss tells us to do.’ And it’s, like, wait a minute — your job is to manage and counsel and direct your client, and — in my opinion — avoid litigation, avoid these things. Those people are no longer here — they’ve all been let go, thank God — and once most of them were let go was when Dave and I had an opportunity to come back and reconcile. And as soon as Dave and I get in a room, it’s, like, ‘What the hell are we fighting over? Get your guitar. Let’s play. Let’s jam.’ And then it becomes about the music, and there it is. So when we keep it on that level, it goes well. When the business people and the lawyers and the people come in and they try to sort of put logic around it, that’s when the trouble [begins].
“I’ve always said MEGADETH is completely illogical — there’s no logic to it at all,” he continued. “And there’s not really supposed to be, because it’s something of the heart — it’s not of the head; it’s of the heart. I always say the longest journey is the 15 inches from the head to the heart. To memorize it is one thing, but to know it by heart is another thing. And that’s what we do as musicians — we don’t just memorize it; we have to really [know] it by heart. And that’s what a group is — a musical setting is about that. And, of course, there has to be some sort of business dynamic around it to kind of make it work, I guess — at least for the accountants.”
Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH nearly five years ago after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.