David Ellefson Exclusive: Why I’m Back In Megadeth
David Ellefson has exclusively told Classic Rock about the motivations behind his return to Megadeth, after an eight-year absence.
“It literally happened over the weekend,” says the delighted bassist. “And I can hardly believe it myself. There was clearly gonna be a change in the line-up, because James Lomenzo was leaving. Dave (Mustaine) and I talked on the phone, and all the feuds, all the arguments we’ve been having over the years just melted away. It just goes to show what direct contact can achieve!”
According to Ellefson, it was drummer Shawn Drover who instigated the whole thing.
“If you ever need a guy in a band to watch your back, then this is the man. Obviously, I have no clue what happened within the band. But I got a text from Shawn and it just said: ‘If ever there was a time for you and Dave to talk, now is it.’ It’s one of those messages you act on immediately. Typically of Megadeth, things then happened big and fast.
“In all honesty, talking to Dave again was wonderful. It was the right thing at the right time, done in the right spirit.”
Ellefson rejoins the band in time for their March tour of America, where they will play the whole of the 1990 album Rust In Peace.
“I have one big advantage – I think I know those songs already! Seriously though, I was in New York with one of my other bands, Hail!, when I found out that Megadeth were doing this, and I did feel a little upset that I wasn’t at that point gonna be part of it. But, hey, now it’s all changed.
“So far, the reaction I’ve had from everyone has been overwhelmingly positive. I cannot wait to get back out there with Megadeth.”
Mustaine is reported as saying: “David Ellefson belongs in Megadeth. Next we are going to show you the power of getting your asses kicked… HARD!”
For further info, go to www.megadeth.com
This is great to see. Cannot wait til Download for Megadeth!
holy shit this summer is going to be great!!!!!
This is going to be the best year of my life!
Can’t wait for you guys to kick my ass @ Sonisphere in Warsaw!
SO. FUCKING. STOKED.
Sad that James has left as he did a fantastic job in his time with the band, not to mention proving to be a monster on bass and i hope he goes on to big things. As for David Ellefson joining the band….WOW!! Who would have thought it would ever happen, this is huge news in the metal society. Sad for James but glad for Junior, one of the very best bass players in metal bar none!! Great to see him back!!
Hail David Ellefson!!! This is gonna be great!!!
I just want to see you guys in Spain…
Ellefson and Mustaine again… Yeah!
that`s so cool that the two daves of heavy metal are back together.. would to see them liveagain so them when they toured the first time with RUST IN PEACE. but the downfall on that they did`nt play long enough.
Its incredible
I don´t believe
I´ll be waiting for years this return
good luck david and please see this group that I create in facebook
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/que-megadeth-venga-con-la-gira-del-rust-in-peace-a-sudamerica/272436284348?ref=ts
congratulations for you david and dave
good luck and good bye
from chile
this is feckin awesome news. its gonna be CARNAGE
MegadetH is the best band in this fucking world!
thank you for all the magic Dave Mustaine!
David welcome!
yeah!
Argentina is waiting for the best band in the history of music!
This is amazing news… i wish i lived in America, i wanna see that tour.
The linup is now orgasmic
It’s a very good news!!!…. Dave Ellefson and Dave Mustaine together again,god it’s a miracle!!!….i hope to see you in Perú …… regards from Callao – Perú
Ellefson of Megadeth back in again……rulezzzzzzzzzz
Megadeth as a band again.
Welcome back Mr Ellefson. Now get Marty on the phone, tell him to shove his Japanese Pop crap and get back to playing with the band and we’ve got something happening.
y does ellfson say that james lomenzo was leavin??? i dont get it..y wud james leave?
Does anybody know why LoMenzo is leaving?
Have seen them a couple of times with Lomenzo doing the bass and I was blown away each time – great player – however I cannot wait to see Ellefson back where he belongs
I was sad to see James leave but I already saw Megadeth with James, and now I finally get to see Ellefson! Good luck to you James.
Wait, does that mean Ellefson has to learn other people’s bass lines? Like Sleepwalker? That’s weirds he’s gonna be playing other peoples music for the first time in Megadeth?
Okay… next step is call Marty…
man, this brings tears to my eyes!!!
Finally Dave Mustaine gets his head out of his ass!!!
the internet has never been so exciting!
I just wish I could see the whole tour, 1 show (Calgary) just may not be enough
If Dave Mustaine could get Marty then THAT would be historic.
hell yeah poison was the cure
I’m so excited for the RIP tour. It is going to be amazing!
Wellcome back David!!!
Greetings from Puerto Montt – Chile
This is great news! I can only imagine Lomenzo was leaving due to commitments with BLS who are now actually playing shows and writing material now that Zakk wylde has been kicked out of ozzy!
this is a excellent news, it was bound to happen, and happened, ooh yeah!, i´ll be there to see them
I still can’t believe this! This isn’t just good news, this is “THE news!” we’ve all been waiting for! Welcome back David!! When I read about this yesterday it literally put a big smile in my face
. If there was ever someone who should be back on Megadeth again, that person was David Ellefson! And now he is 
.
The MULLET IS BACK! J/kidding..
I think this a work-for-hire type of arrangement that Mustaine setup that might be temporary. Sort of like when Izzy Stradlin returned to Guns N Roses to make guest appearances on their 2006 tour. Axl controls all things GNR is the same way that Megadeth works now through Mustaine.
Anyway, Megadeth these past few months has been *really* interesting. Mustaine isn’t having a great time with his label, Roadrunner right now and is blaming them left and right for the low sales of Endgame when it dropped off the chart without a second thought.
The RIP tour is nothing more than a pure cash grab after 2 Slayer tours that were advertising the “big 2? blew up in Mega Dave’s face. And next fall it could all blow up yet again if Araya still isn’t heathy. You got all this working against Megadeth PLUS the fact that he’s near retirement and he’s had a bad back. The band could fold tomorrow like it did in 2002 with his fake arm injury. But in this case, his medical ailment is apparently very real.
Since Musterd was just bad mouthing him in the press as recently as a few weeks ago. They say time heals wounds and its been almost 8 years, but is Junior really waiting to come back so quickly? And all that even after a lawsuit that blew up in his face?
Something else is at work here that they’re not telling us. There’s too much bad karma on both sides and I think Junior came back, money that Mustaine put forth did more than a little of the talking than just a recommendation from his current work-for-hire drummer.
this is great!!!! this was a good decision!!!! i hope metallica did the same with jason newsted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! megadeth rulzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
jesus christ
all we need is marty and the band would be perfect
Ellefson is back in Megadeth! That’s awesome!
Can’t wait to see them live!
that tour is going to kick ass, I hope that megadeth come here to costa rica some day soon please
Bienvenido Ellefson
Bienvenido de vuelta Megadeth un Perú
Perú es Megadeth!
THIS IS WHAT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR.DAVID ELLEFSON BASS GOD NUFF SAID.
DAVID ELLEFSON BASS GOD AND SHOULD BE THE ONLY ONE EVER TO PLAY BASS FOR MEGADETH.MR ELLEFSON ROCK ON PLEASE WITH BASS IN ARE FACE.
i hope that i get a chance to get to see megadeth on this tour
Welcome back bro!!
Get Marty and Nick back as well. Maybe even add Chris Poland or Jeff Young to the line-up.
With James Lomenzo leaving, this means we’re going to get a White Lion reunion? Come on Vito, you know you want it.
Excellent, best metal related news in ages, Megadeth haven’t been the same since he left.
Thanks Dave. Love you….After 8 years are david back. I was fan of this fantastic band from 20 years ago
This news is so big. Awesome 
Ugg… I am unemployed currently and was pissed as it was that I couldnt see this show. Iam even more upset that I can grab a VIP pass. I would fall down and die fi I had the chance to meet Mustaine or Ellefson, much less together and at the same time. I woul dfeel like a patriot getting to meet the founding fathers or a christian getting to meet Jesus.
wow…the real Megadeth is back…im full with emotional feelings Dave and David are Megadeth..,they r like James and Lars…Now the only thing left is Marty…pliz. Marty come back to megadeth…ill be waiting 4 Marty to return..to make history again…thnks Dave..
THATS SOME GOOD NEWS NOW WE NEED MARTY AND NICK AND THIN WILL BE SET FOR THE REAL MEGADETH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow this is the greatest news in a long time!! Now please play Sweden Rock or announce a gig in Holland soon and I’m as happy as a monkey with seven dicks
Oh and I defenitally hope that James leaving Megadeth will be because of a White Lion reunion WITH Vito Bratta!!!!
Oh god this is one of the best news in my life, when a friend of mine told me ellefson is back in Megadeth, i started to scream, the god of the bass players is back! i can`t wait to see the 2 daves together in live.
I’ve been Megadeth fan for the past 20 years. Just visited their website to see what was up, and I see Ellefson with the band on the home page. My jaw dropped!
Fuck yes! The two finally together again, couldn’t be more happy!
“because James Lomenzo was leaving”
Ellefson is so full of shit. Lomenzo was sacked so that Ellefson could join the band, Lomenzo didn’t have any intentions of leaving Megadeth.
oh shit – i was always hoping for him to return!!
Now get chris poland or marty friedman back.
Anyway, awesome news – i hope there will be a
live album of this tour.
Megadeth is my all time favorite band. It brings tears of joy to my eyes to see that Dave Mustaine and David Ellefson have worked things out and now Ellefson is back in the band, serious tears of joy!!
Wow, great news!!! In an interview explaining why Marty felt his creativity was being stifled in Megadeth, he went on to say that Megadeth was Batlleship Grey and that he wanted to paint with reds, purples, yellows, etc.
This is the same issue James Lo has with Megadeth. I don’t know if that’s the reason he would have been leaving, but J Lo likes to play different kinds of music, Megadeth would have held him back at some point. It’s the reason he’s known as a journeyman musician.
I think James is awesome though and was glad he ended up with Megadeth. Love his style, and basslines on the last two albums. So, if James was leaving for his own reasons, then David E is the perfect replacement. He started the band with DM, he was there for the greatest era of Metal and Megadeth, so why shouldn’t he have his rightful place? Welcome back Dave, you were missed!!!!
Junior, don’t trust this fucking bastard Mustaine. This contemptible piece of shit never changes, and lineup turnover never stops. You can’t endure constant oppression anymore, go your’s own way
I do hope that Mustaine doesn’t double-cross Junior in any way in the future. From the little I know of his character, it seems to me that Junior’s a nice guy. Mustaine is a phenomenal talent, but as a person I feel he’s complex and not always trustworthy.
I’ll be watching with interest.