David Ellefson doesn’t rule out Megadeth return: “It’s never a closed chapter.”

Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has hinted he’s open to rejoining the band.

Ellefson co-founded Megadeth with singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine in 1984. He was dismissed from the venerated thrash band in 2021, following explicit video of him interacting with a fan getting leaked online. Three years later, though, Ellefson has said his time in Megadeth “is never a closed chapter”.

“Look, I helped start the band,” Ellefson tells El Planeta Del Rock (via Blabbermouth ). “I was there from the beginning. My heart and soul was in it. You'll hear that in those songs forever. And, look, that way of life, our lifestyle, our work ethic has influenced me forever. It’s part of how I still roll now moving forward. So, you can't just take that piece of your life and just pull it out and stick it on the shelf. It's part of me. I’m always part of that.”

Ellefson continues by saying that, though he and Megadeth are currently “not sharing the stage together” and “it wasn’t my idea to not be there”, his outlook on a return is, “Maybe another time.”

Ellefson shed more light on the circumstances around his Megadeth exit in an exclusive Metal Hammer interview this February. “There’s two sides to it,” the bassist said of his sex scandal. “One: when you bare it all, you’ve got nothing to hide. Fuck it, now you can truly be yourself! We all come into the world with our birthday suit on, so what are we ashamed of?

“What I feel the worst about is the embarrassment that it caused some people, like my family, who didn’t deserve it. Out of respect for them, I’m going to keep the family dynamic off the table [during interviews]. That’s at their request.”

Since his Megadeth dismissal, Ellefson has started performing in the death metal band Dieth, hard rockers The Lucid and thrashers Kings Of Thrash. He continues to play with metal supergroup Metal Allegiance, with whom he’s performed since 2014.