David Ellefson

David Ellefson is one of those musicians who quietly holds an entire genre together — the kind of guy where you don't fully appreciate what he does until you imagine the music without him. Growing up in Jackson, Minnesota, about as far from the Sunset Strip as you can get, he somehow ended up co-founding Megadeth with Dave Mustaine and locking in that thunderous low-end groove that made songs like Peace Sells and Symphony of Destruction hit so hard. His bass lines aren't flashy for the sake of it; they're precise, driving, and absolutely essential. The guy went through lineup changes, personal turbulence, and more Megadeth drama than most bands experience in a lifetime — and still kept showing up. For me, he's the unsung backbone of thrash metal's golden era, and that's a legacy worth respecting.

Name (English)

David Ellefson

Name (Japanese)

デイヴィッド・エレフソン

Reading

でいゔぃっど・えれふそん

Born

November 12, 1964 (age 61)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Scorpio / Dragon

Origin

Jackson, Minnesota, United States

Occupation

bassist / composer / guitarist / musician / executive producer

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttps://www.davidellefson.com
• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/davidellefsonbass/
• Xhttps://x.com/ellefsondavid
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%87%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A3%E3%83%83%E3%83%89%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A8%E3%83%AC%E3%83%95%E3%82%BD%E3%83%B3

Tags

• Minnesota
• bassist
• composer
• guitarist

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.