Dave Mustaine commented again on David Ellefson from Megadeth , this time in a radio interview during the Rocklahoma festival.
Ellefson, who left the band in May 2021, has been commenting on his own version of the dismissal in interviews, even seeming to take a dig at his former bandmates in a comment about discovering who his "true friends" are.
On the first weekend of September, Dave Mustaine also offered his version of events, saying he was "shocked" to discover the controversy involving Ellefson , where intimate videos were released that the bassist allegedly exchanged with a much younger fan – and supposedly a minor at the time the interactions began.
“I didn’t want to hurt anyone, there was already too much going on,” Mustaine said. “I didn’t want to take sides, but I needed to do something. The atmosphere was awful, so we parted ways [with Ellefson].”
Dave Mustaine also spoke about the dilemma of whether it would be better to find a temporary bassist or start looking for someone permanent. According to him, the rush to make the new Megadeth album, The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead , ended up influencing his decision.
“We didn’t have time,” he says. “We had started recording the album two years ago, and it had already been six years since Dystopia . Then the idea came up to call Steve [ DiGiorgio ]. He came and recorded [all the bass parts on the album]; and it was great.”
New Megadeth album
In November 2021, David Ellefson revealed that he had asked Megadeth not to replace his recordings on the new album. “I don’t think they needed to do that. I asked them not to. But they did, it was the path they chose,” the bassist commented in an interview with The Metal Voice .
The album The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead was released in September 2022 with bass recorded by Steve DiGiorgio of Testament , while James LoMenzo returned to the band as touring bassist.
