Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson isn’t totally convinced that the thrash metal veterans are calling it a day.
Talking to Alternative Nation, Ellefson, who played in Megadeth from 1984 to 2002 and again from 2010 to 2021, says that he hopes his ex-band’s impending farewell tour isn’t “just an attempt to boost ticket sales”.
He says (via Metal Injection): “We’ve seen this movie before: boost ticket sales, go away, then the bigger offers come after everybody’s gone away for a couple years. I mean, we’ve seen how this works.”
He continues: “But, look, if Dave [Mustaine, vocals/guitars] needs to shut it down and call it quits because he has just had enough and he’s been through it all, then hey, you know what? … God bless you, brother. Put it away with grace and go enjoy the rest of your life.
“So if he really is shutting it down and he’s really gonna put it away, then please do so with dignity and grace and do what you say and mean what you say.”
Even though Ellefson thinks that “the farewell thing has been thrown around so much by so many people that it doesn’t have much weight to it”, he reiterates his hopes that the band’s intentions are genuine.
“So, if you’ve really gotta shut it down, shut it down and put it away and go enjoy the rest of your life,” he finishes.
Elsewhere in the interview, Ellefson says he’d like Megadeth to bow out with a concert featuring former members from the band’s 41-year history. He believes it should be done in a similar vein to Back To The Beginning, the recent show where Ozzy Osbourne retired from the stage and performed a set with the other founding members of Black Sabbath.
“What we saw in Birmingham, in my opinion, was 100 percent on point the right way to say goodbye,” Ellefson explains. “You bring back the OGs: Geezer [Butler], Tony [Iommi], Bill [Ward] and Ozzy, the four OGs.”
He adds: “Look, they fired Bill, they fired Ozzy, and at some point they’re back together. The four guys that started it all get to say goodbye together, to each other, to the fans, the fans say goodbye to them. So, to me, that is the model of how it’s done.”
Ellefson’s latest Megadeth firing came shortly after he was embroiled in a sex scandal, with video of him on an intimate video call with a fan getting leaked online. The bassist reflected on that period in a 2024 interview with Metal Hammer.
“There’s two sides to it,” he said. “One: when you bare it all, you’ve got nothing to hide. Fuck it, now you can truly be yourself! We all come into the world with our birthday suit on, so what are we ashamed of? What I feel the worst about is the embarrassment that it caused some people, like my family, who didn’t deserve it.”
Megadeth, who now have James LoMenzo on bass, announced in August that they’d split up after one last album and tour. The album was later announced as a self-titled effort due to come out in 2026, and the lead single Tipping Point was released last week.
In a statement, Mustaine chalked Megadeth’s retirement up to a desire to go out with the band still “on top”.
“Don’t be mad, don’t be sad, be happy for us all, come celebrate with me these next few years,” Mustaine said. “We have done something together that’s truly wonderful and will probably never happen again. We started a musical style, we started a revolution, we changed the guitar world and how it's played, and we changed the world.”
No dates on the farewell tour have been revealed at time of publication, but Megadeth are currently touring Europe as a support act for Disturbed. Their next stop will be at the Tauron Arena in Kraków, Poland on Friday (October 10).
Ellefson now plays in the bands Dieth, The Lucid and Kings Of Thrash. Kings Of Thrash features Jeff Young, another ex-Megadeth member, on guitar.
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