When we made our list of potential bassists to replace David Ellefson in Megadeth, we did not include Billy Sheehan from Mr. Big and The Winery Dogs (among others). And the reason we did not include Billy Sheehan is because Billy Sheehan joining Megadeth is a bonkers idea that will never come to pass. You think the dude from White Lion seemed out of place in Megadeth? At least he’d been in Black Label Society by then. Suggesting Billy Sheehan is gonna join Megadeth is like suggesting Bobby Dall is gonna join Cannibal Corpse: musically off-base and way too expensive.
Still, during a new interview with Rocking with Jam Man, Jam Man asked Sheehan if he’d accept the Megadeth gig were it to be offered to him. To which Sheehan replied…
“Well, [there are] a lot of guys I would recommend to [Dave Mustaine], but it’s not necessarily my thing. But I think they’re a great band, and I wish them well, for sure.”
…thus ending that already-unlikely scenario. Sorry to Jam Man and the two other people who were hoping this would happen.
Sheehan went on to comment on the scandal surrounding Ellefson’s firing, suggesting that “There may have been more at play within the band” that led to Ellefson’s firing (which Mustaine has all but explicitly said):
“There might have been some tension already. Who knows? I know Dave very well, and he’s a wonderful guy. Everybody has their moment where they do something they regret. We all do at some point in our lives. Unfortunately, now there’s the Internet, and you can do something stupid and the whole world knows about it. So I feel for the guy, and I understand the situation. But I certainly wish him well. I hope he and his family reconcile and everything is okay with them. That’s the most important thing.”
You can check out the entire Sheehan interview below.
Sheehan is the second prominent bassist to preemptively take himself out of the running for the Megadeth position, after Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica).
Ellefson’s trouble began in May after an Instagram user, identified only as ‘woahworst,’ started sharing accusations that Ellefson had groomed an underage girl. As proof, they offered extremely explicit video of Ellefson masturbating during a video chat, as well as screen caps of text exchanges between Ellefson and the young woman in question.
The woman subsequently provided a statement indicating that while the relationship did take place, she was not underage at the time and it was consensual.
Rolling Stone recently revealed details from a police report Ellefson filed in Scottsdale, AZ while seeking revenge porn charges against the video leaker (not his video partner). Among the revelations in the article: Ellefson admitted to “four to five masturbating encounters” with the woman; the video chats were captured without his consent; the partner, a 19-year-old Dutch woman, admitted that she had “shared the video with some friends but wasn’t sure how it got leaked out to others;” the two only met twice in person, both before the videos were filmed, and there was no physical contact or sexual overtures at those meetings (or any physical contact at any time).
Ellefson took a polygraph test to affirm his claims and presented police with a photo of his partner’s ID to prove she wasn’t underage. He also shared screen shots of text exchanges between the two to prove the relationship was consensual, claims that both of them have made publicly.
The two first met at a signing in 2019 and later got together for “coffee and a soda” in February 2020. After the latter meet-up, the two began communicating online more often, and the relationship became sexual last summer.
Ellefson claimed in the police report that Megadeth’s management informed him the person who leaked the video had previously harassed other band members.
Ellefson either quit, made private, or shut off the comments on all of his major social media accounts a few days after the videos went public.
Ellefson’s parts for the new Megadeth album, tentatively titled The Sick, the Dying and the Dead, will be re-recorded by a different bass player.
Megadeth commence a tour with Lamb of God, Trivium, and In Flames in August, so they’re gonna hafta hire a new bassist sooner rather than later.
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