DAVID ELLEFSON Looks Back On MEGADETH's Early Years: DAVE MUSTAINE 'Needed A Real Right-Hand Man Who Was Gonna Be There'

During an appearance on "Vox&Hops", the podcast hosted by Matt McGachy, frontman of extreme metal band CRYPTOPSY, former MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson reflected on the band's early years, particularly how he survived the days of rock and roll debauchery and Sunset Strip excess of the late 1980s and early 1990s. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Until I moved to California, I don't think I really ever drank or anything before I went on stage; I always played a sober, clear-headed show. And I moved to L.A. And, of course, I moved to L.A. and cocaine's on the cover of Time magazine that year, and it's the Sunset Strip — I mean, it's everything. And it's, like, look, there it is. And it's kind of, like, man, this is everything that you saw in a movie or a magazine. You become a product of your environment; it's there [and] it's around. And not everybody was going down those roads. But we kind of seemed to hang in those circles.'

He continued: "Look, I don't regret it at all. I wouldn't have changed any of it, man. I got to Hollywood at the fucking perfect time, man. The week we got there was just the best. I meet Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH leader], we start MEGADETH, and on it goes. And I kind of consider that... That was divine for both of us. He needed a real right-hand man who was gonna frickin' be there, and that was me. And I needed someone to frickin' pilot the jungle. He knew his shit and he grew up around the area. And I'm thankful for him every day. Despite all of it between me and Dave, I'm always thankful for him that he was the big brother that helped me get through that."

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH in May 2021, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

Shortly before Ellefson was dismissed from MEGADETH, he released a statement on Instagram denying all social media chatter that he "groomed" an underage fan.

Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, when the group briefly broke up because Mustaine suffered severe nerve damage that left him unable to play. After Mustaine reformed MEGADETH with an all-new lineup in 2004, Ellefson sued his former bandmate for $18.5 million, alleging that Mustaine still owed him substantial merchandise and publishing royalties. In January 2005, the case was dismissed in court, and five years later, Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH.