In a new interview with Artists On Record Starring ADIKA Live!, David Ellefson discussed Dave Mustaine‘s early rivalry with his former band METALLICA.
Here’s what Ellefson said:
“I was always encouraging Dave, going, ‘Dude, don’t look over there.”
“It’s blinders. What we’re doing is cool, man.’ I mean, look, Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] was coming to our shows, paying attention to what we were doing. He was definitely a fan of Dave‘s work and he was a friend of Dave. I think it probably bummed him out that he had to let him go. He had to make a choice. But he continued to come to the gigs; he hung out; he was always friends with Dave. So it’s, like, ‘Look, these guys haven’t forgotten you. Look, they used your songs; they put your name on it; and they paid you. I mean, they don’t hate you.’ There’s a lot of other bands where it’s, like, ‘F*ck that guy. We’re gonna steal his songs. We’re not gonna credit him. And we’re not gonna pay him. F*ck you. Sue us.’ That’s how it usually goes in the music business.
Ellefson continued:
“So the fact that those guys did the right thing every step of the way, I think, is awesome. Because otherwise, look, Dave — using a BEATLES analogy — he could have been the Pete Best of METALLICA, the most forgotten, never-heard-of-again member of METALLICA, had they not put his name on those records. That validated him. They gave him a chance for a second chance by putting his name on those records, using those compositions, and then again, paying him.”
During a recent conversation with LifeMinute, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine clarifies once again that he is the only founder of the band.
Dave said:
“There’s a misnomer that there were two people that founded Megadeth. I was the founder; I was the only one in the beginning. There was a bass player before who just was… who just left. So it’s been my vision.
”When I got kicked out of Metallica, I got kicked out of Metallica; no one else was with me on the bus coming home.”