Megadeth, the former bassist: “What if it was a fake goodbye?”

Water under the bridge? Not at all. There is not much of a relationship left between David Ellefson and his old band, Megadeth, from which he was expelled on May 24, 2021 following a sex scandal. According to the bassist, the thrash metal veterans haven’t really decided to hang up their instruments and he hopes that the upcoming farewell tour isn’t “just a attempt to increase ticket sales“.

“We’ve seen this movie before,” Ellefson says. “Increase ticket sales, leave, then the bigger deals will come after they’ve been gone for a couple of years; I mean, we know how it works. But, look, if Dave (Mustaine) needs to shut down and call it quits because he’s had enough and he’s seen it all, then hey, you know what? Still being his friend, even though we haven’t spoken in almost five years… God bless you, brother.”

“Put everything away gracefully and enjoy the rest of your life” is the wish that the former stage partner addresses to frontman Mustaine, despite the relationship being in dire straits. Indeed, Ellefson doubt continues to creep in: “If you’re really closing the door, then please do it with dignity and grace. Do what you say and believe what you say. Because I think that goodbye story has been brought up so many times by so many people that it doesn’t hold much weight anymore.”

Thinking about the Back to the beginning organized by Black Sabbath in Birmingham, the Minnesota bassist would like to be part of a hypothetical last, great Megadeth concert. “It’s been a difficult journey, sure, obviously, and there were sublime moments and moments when I was more confused than anything else, but in the end… Dave said four and a half years ago that he didn’t want to play with me anymore, so I let it go and moved on. I’m not sitting around waiting for a call. I’ve already offered myself, and if it comes, I would be happy to participate somehow.”

“What we saw in Birmingham, in my opinion, was 100% the right way to say goodbye. You bring back the original members – Geezer, Tony, Bill and Ozzy; the four original members… Bill was gone, Ozzy too, and at some point they got back together. The four guys who started it all can say goodbye together, to each other, to the fans, the fans say goodbye to them. So, for me, this is the model to follow. I mean, this is 100% the right way to do it” Ellefson claims.