David Ellefson: “I Miss” Dave Mustaine Despite Being Fired from Megadeth

David Ellefson has opened up about being estranged from Dave Mustaine in the years following his removal from Megadeth.

The bassist took a reflective tone in a new interview when discussing his former bandmate, who shared the stage with Ellefson for a combined 30 years across the his two stints in the thrash group.

“I miss Dave too,” Ellefson told “The Delz Show” after the host mentioned that he missed seeing the two Daves onstage together.

“Look, some of some of the best stories of my life begin with ‘the time me and Dave’ — fill in the blank,” Ellefson said. “You know what I mean? Because we lived such an interesting life together with that band. We haven’t talked in a few years, but I miss the guy, of course. We had a lot of fun. And anytime we’ve ever had [a falling out] like this [in the past], as soon as we get back together, it’s like we just were hanging out yesterday.”

Ellefson also spoke wistfully of his time in Megadeth in an interview back in May. However, in that conversation, he stopped well-short of extending an olive branch to Mustaine, who swiftly fired Ellefson in 2021 after the bassist’s compromising online sex encounter went public.

“For Megadeth, we got another 10 years, 11 years out of it, won a Grammy,” said Ellefson on the “The Candid Mic with Fran Strine.” “So I feel like a lot of our story together in Megadeth with me and Dave got to be completed as well. And if that means we never play together again — oh, well. It was a good couple of chapters. And if one day we do, well, then we’ll see where that goes. But I think you don’t sit around and wait for those things. You just get on with it. You just get moving forward. And I certainly didn’t stop. I just kept going.”

When asked if he had spoken to Mustaine since being fired, Ellefson said: “Nope. Not one word. No need to. After that? No, I don’t need to be your friend. I’ll move on.”

Ellefson has certainly done that, at least musically, forming multiple bands, including the supergroup Dieth and his own Megadeth spinoff Kings of Thrash. He also launched a podcast back in March.

Stream the new interview with Ellefson below.