Jason Newsted will apparently not be joining Megadeth

Musician/artist Jason Newsted poses for a photos front of his artwork at VIP Preview for Art New York — (Image credit: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

Jason Newsted will not be joining Megadeth, according to an Instagram post made by his wife Nicole.

Since Megadeth bassist David Ellefson was relieved of his duties last week, speculation has been rife about who might be replacing him – and many excitable thrash fans felt like there was a good chance former Metallica bassist Newsted could be primed to step into the role.

But his wife Nicole took to her Instagram yesterday to confirm that Newsted has no plans to join the band. "Jason is not joining Megadeth", she wrote. "Peace to them. Listen to metal."

When a commenter on the post suggested that Newsted wouldn't be a fit to replace Ellefson because he wouldn't be up to the job anymore, Nicole promptly shut them down with the response: "Jason can still fucking shred".

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Ellefson was fired from Megadeth after videos of him leaked online, along with allegations that he had been involved in online grooming – charges he denies.

While Ellefson admitted on Instagram that “private, adult interactions” took place, he claimed they were “taken out of context and manipulated to inflict maximum damage to my reputation, my career and family.”

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Briony is the Editor in Chief of Louder and is in charge of sorting out who and what you see covered on the site. She started working with Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Prog magazines back in 2015 and has been writing about music and entertainment in many guises since 2009. Her favourite-ever interviewee is either Billy Corgan or Kim Deal. She is a big fan of cats, Husker Du and pizza.