Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has brought forth a significant claim, asserting that he played a pivotal role in the creation of the band’s 2022 song, “Soldier On!,” despite receiving no official credit or compensation for his work. The accusation emerged during a recent interview on The Delz Show, where Ellefson delved into the contentious topic of songwriting acknowledgments, particularly in relation to Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine.
During the discussion, Ellefson drew a sharp contrast between how his former band, Megadeth, handled creative contributions versus how Metallica dealt with Dave Mustaine’s early material. He highlighted Metallica‘s approach, even after Mustaine‘s departure in 1983, stating:
“They used your songs, they put your name on the credit, and you got paid. It’s, like, f**k, that’s like a triple win, man.”
Ellefson then revealed his own experience within Megadeth, directly linking it to the track “Soldier On!“
“Look, when members got kicked out of Megadeth, their songs weren’t used and [they weren’t] credited and paid. I mean, the song ‘Soldier On!’ on the last Megadeth record, I brought the lyric and the melody in for that, and then me and Dave were working on that together. He changed the title of it to ‘Soldier On!’ and then when he kicked me out, he just took my words off and kept the whole song to himself and took all the credit. He didn’t pay me or put my f**king name on it.”
The song in question, “Soldier On!,” appears on Megadeth‘s latest album, The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!, which was released in 2022. This release occurred more than a year after Ellefson’s dismissal from the band following a widely reported controversy.
Despite the personal frustration expressed, Ellefson adopted a broader, more philosophical view of the long-standing rivalry between the two thrash metal titans, referring to it as “the folklore and the legend of Megadeth and Metallica.” Nevertheless, his recent comments are poised to reignite conversations surrounding creative ownership, credit, and financial compensation within the intricate and often contentious history of heavy metal’s most prominent rivalries.
Despite this, Ellefson stated recently that he misses Dave. During a recent appearance on The Candid Mic With Fran Strine podcast, he said: “I miss Dave too. Look, some of some of the best stories of my life begin with ‘the time me and Dave‘ — fill in the blank. You know what I mean? Because we lived such an interesting life together with that band. We haven’t talked in a few years, but I miss the guy, of course. We had a lot of fun. And anytime we’ve ever had [a falling out] like this [in the past], as soon as we get back together, it’s like we just were hanging out yesterday.”
