e all know our captain Dave Mustaine, Thrash Metal legend and pioneer, and creator of some of the greatest heavy metal riffs ever written. (You know the shirt, Mustaine – Wrote ‘Em All.) Also, the creator of MEGADETH BEER, Mustaine Vineyards wine, and the driving creative force behind the ever-evolving Mega-Machine for over 35 years. And, of course, rounding out the Mega-Lineup, co-founder and bassist David Ellefson, a thrash legend in his own right, as well as author, producer, and proprietor of Ellefson Coffee Co, EMP LABEL GROUP and the relaunched COMBAT RECORDS, as well as the latest additions, guitarist Kiko Louireiro and drummer Dirk Verbeuren. Together, they round out the current lineup of MEGADETH, the pioneering “Big 4” Metal band who, on iconic albums like Peace Sells.. But Who’s Buying, So Far.. So Good.. So What!, and Rust In Peace, literally created the benchmark for Heavy Metal with Mustaine’s riffs and snarling vocals, Ellefson’s punishing signature bass sound, and a string of equally legendary guitarists and drummers including Chris Poland, Marty Friedman, and the late Nick Menza and Gar Samuelson.
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In 2016 MEGADETH released Dystopia, their 15th studio album, and set out on a whirlwind album cycle, including a massive World Tour, and a Grammy win for the title track “Dystopia”. In 2019 the band retreated to Nashville to work on the follow-up to Dystopia, when the Metal World was rocked to its core with the announcement of Mustaine’s diagnosis with throat cancer, which became a Worldwide headline on every major news outlet from CBS to FOX NEWS. The band, and fans the World over, rallied around Mustaine, and breathed a collective sigh of relief with the announcement he had completed his treatments, and was slowly but surely on the mend, given a 90% chance of recovery, and that the band planned to be back in action by 2020. On the eve of the sailing of The MEGACRUISE, Thom Hazaert sat down with David, Kiko, and Dirk, to talk past, present, and future of MEGADETH. DAVID ELLEFSON
enduring and revered Heavy Metal acts of all time.
When 18 year old David Ellefson, fresh out of High School in Jackson, MN, loaded up his van and made his way to Hollywood (with his buddy Greg Handevidt in tow), little did he know that, almost immediately, destiny would change the course of his life forever, as he would meet a determined young songwriter and guitarist named Dave Mustaine, fresh out of a band called Metallica, that David had incidentally never heard of, and they would go on to create one of the most enduring legacies in Rock history.
In 2019, Ellefson released his second Memoir, More Life With Deth, which I had the distinct honor and privilege of co-writing with him, as well as his debut solo release Sleeping Giants, a “companion” album to the book, featuring several new tracks including collaborations with not only yours truly, but a true “who’s who” of Metal luminaries including Mark Tremonti, Dave McClain and Joey Radziwill of Sacred Reich, Andy Martongelli, Steve Conley and Eric AK of Flotsam and Jetsam, and former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland, as well as the title track “Sleeping Giants”, a genrebending collaboration with legendary hip-hop MC Darryl “DMC” McDaniels.
As one of the pioneering Metal bands known as the “Big 4”, alongside Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, the iconic musical canon Mustaine and Ellefson created together on legendary albums like Peace Sells.. But Who’s Buying?, Rust in Peace, and Countdown To Extinction, would lead them to over a dozen Grammy Nominations, a long-overdue win for 2016’s Dystopia, selling over 50 million albums, and, in the process, becoming one of the most
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In addition to all of that, (as if it wasn’t enough) Ellefson has built his own EMPire, with his record labels EMP Label Group, and the recent relaunch of famed Metal label Combat Records, his coffee brand Ellefson Coffee Co, and seemingly endless lines of new
