Megadeth have announced that they have officially parted ways with bassist David Ellefson. The decision to move on without him was made in the wake of several sexually explicit videos of Ellefson pleasuring himself having emerged online earlier this month.
It was initially alleged that those videos had emerged from video chats with an underage girl, though Ellefson issued a statement denying those allegations. To back up his claims, he also had the woman who claims to have been on the other end of those videos come forward, stating that she was of age during the time they were filmed.
The emergence of the footage came as a shock to many, given Ellefson‘s nearly 30 year marriage and his status as a Lutheran pastor. Megadeth frontman/guitarist Dave Mustaine said in a statement issued today, May 24th:
“We are informing our fans that David Ellefson is no longer playing with Megadeth and that we are officially parting ways with him. We do not take this decision lightly.
While we do not know every detail of what occurred, with an already strained relationship, what has already been revealed now is enough to making working together impossible moving forward.
We look forward to seeing our fans on the road this summer, and we cannot wait to share our brand new music with the world. It is almost complete.
Dave Mustaine
Megadeth
May 24th, 2021″
Megadeth are scheduled to head on ‘The Metal Tour Of The Year‘ this August with Lamb Of God, Trivium and In Flames joining them. The dates for that include:
08/20 Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater
08/21 Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
08/22 Woodlands, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman
08/24 El Paso, TX – Don Haskins Center
08/25 Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater
08/27 Denver, CO – Ball Arena
08/29 Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Federal Theatre
08/31 Reno, NV – Reno Events Center
09/01 Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheatre
09/02 Concord, CA – Concord Pavilion
09/04 Portland, OR – Moda Center
09/05 Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre
09/09 Tinley Park, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – Chicago
09/11 Danville, VA – Blue Ridge Festival
09/12 Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
09/13 Boston, MA – Leader Bank Pavilion
09/15 Camden, NJ – BB&T Pavilion
09/16 Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
09/18 Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center
09/19 Clarkston, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
09/20 Cincinnati, OH – PNC Pavilion
09/22 Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP
09/24 Mount Pleasant, MI – Soaring Eagle Casino Amphitheatre
09/26 St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre – St. Louis
09/28 Minneapolis, MN – Armory
09/30 Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
10/01 Laval, QC – Place Bell
10/02 Quebec City, QC – Centre Videotron
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