Megadeth’s David Ellefson has revealed how he almost changed teams back in the early ’00s, after being considered as Metallica’s new bass player.
Back in 1983, a fierce rivalry was ignited when Dave Mustaine was fired from his role as Metallica’s guitarist. Inspired to begin his own band, Mustaine teamed up with David Ellefson to form Megadeth, who soon became one of the biggest bands in thrash metal as well.
While this rivalry between Mustaine and his former bandmates simmered for decades, it turns out that Ellefson almost went over to the opposition when Metallica were seeking a new bassist.
In early 2001, Metallica bassist Jason Newsted announced his departure from the group, causing the band to seek a replacement musician. While much of this period was captured in the documentary Some Kind Of Monster, a new interview reveals how close the band were to recruiting a then-former Megadeth member.
Speaking to The Metal Voice (via Blabbermouth), David Ellefson was quizzed as to whether he was asked to join Metallica following Jason Newsted’s exit.
“They didn’t call me,” Ellefson began. “I know that there was a conversation about considering me. I know Lars [Ulrich] and Dave [Mustaine] had chatted, ’cause [Metallica] were putting their short list together.”
“And, to be honest with you… I mean, look, Metallica are great, and I’m a fan of theirs and friends with them, and I would be there to be of service with them in whatever way, but they, I think, made their decision right around the time when Megadeth had disbanded in 2002.”
Check out David Ellefson’s interview with The Metal Voice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygtsUhpZJSs
While Megadeth were temporarily disbanded between 2002 and 2004 due to injuries sustained by frontman Dave Mustaine, the rocker must have been rather relieved that his co-founding bandmate never left his side.
As Blabbermouth also pointed out, this wasn’t the first time that David Ellefson was considered for a role in Metallica, explaining to CBS that his bandmate originally made the shortlist following the death of Cliff Burton back in 1986.
“When Cliff died there was a moment where Dave’s name had come up and I was a little concerned,” Mustaine explained back in 2011.
“I didn’t want to lose my bassist and I certainly didn’t want to have another reason to be upset. God knows I had my reasons, even though they weren’t all real. A lot of them were caused by myself.”
“I just don’t think I would have done well if I’d have known that had happened. Fortunately for me, I think those guys took that into account and just said, ‘Let’s find someone else’.”
Ultimately, David Ellefson remained in Megadeth, and Metallica replaced Cliff Burton by way of Jason Newsted. With the way things are going, you can be sure that if Robert Trujillo ever leaves Metallica, Ellefson might just be the first name on their list.
Check out Megadeth’s ‘Symphony of Destruction’:
