Megadeth bassist David Ellefson’s mum Frances has died at the age of 82, he’s announced.
She endeared herself to metal fans with her appearance in 2001 VH1 documentary Megadeth: Behind The Music (opens in new tab), when she explained how she’d helped her son pursue his musical ambitions – despite her fears that he’d be sidetracked by drugs.
Frances suffered a serious stroke 10 years ago and moved into the home where she’d been a nurse for two decades previously.
Ellefson – who broke his foot on tour last week – says via Facebook: “My dear sweet mother has gone home to see the Lord.
“I’m thankful that I was able to be here at her side in short notice, with all the other setbacks this week.
“You raised me well, mom, and gave everything you had to serving others. You have finished the race. Go home and rest in eternal peace. I love you – thank you for this life you gave to me.”
Frances recalled Ellefson’s first band in the documentary, saying: “He formed a little group, probably about 13 or 14 years old, and played on the front porch. The mothers made sandwiches and lemonade and invited all the neighbours round.”
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She also told of her concerns when the young bassist moved to Los Angeles: “We had a lot of reservations. People would say, ‘How can you let him go out to LA? That’s where they’re going to do drugs.’ But we just had to kind of trust along the way.”
When he became a heroin addict, she remembered: “He hid it for a long time – one visit back home he told us he had the flu. Looking back we should have seen right then what was happening.
“It could be the end of the band. It was taking quite a toll on everybody.”
Ellefson recalled Frances’ connection with Megadeth fans his 2013 book [My Life With Deth](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BW5SJ1Y/ref=dp-kindle-redirect? (opens in new tab)encoding=UTF8&btkr=1)_, saying: “My mother had been somewhat of a shining star in Behind The Music for her sweet candour.
“When she had her stroke, a friend put the word out to the metal community, and we were showered with prayers and thoughtful words to her from the fans. It was truly a touching moment.”