Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson explained his decision to cut his hair in the 1990s — and no, he wasn’t inspired by fellow thrashers Metallica, who also cut their hair and donned makeup around the same time.
Ellefson reflected on the drastic image change in a new episode of The David Ellefson Show podcast, which you can watch below.
David Ellefson ‘Felt Like an Old, Washed-Up Biker’ Before He Cut His Hair
“Okay, so we’re filming the, I guess it was the ‘Trust’ video, and it’s in L.A.,” Ellefson recalled. “I’ve got on this $4,000 pair of Chrome Hearts super heavy leather pants, right? And when I lived in L.A., my hair looked great. I moved out to Arizona, it was really dry, the water, whatever. My hair just was starting to look fizzy. I felt like an old, washed-up biker in this video.”
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The bassist had also recently become a father to his son Roman, which he felt precipitated an image change.
“All of a sudden, I just was at this phase of my life [where] I’m like, ‘I don’t want to look like this. I feel like I look tired, I look old,'” Ellefson recalled. “And I thought, ‘If there’s ever a time to cut my hair and start over, it’s right now.’ Because having short hair is fashionable. Sully [Erna of Godsmack] had short hair. Tommy Lee had just cut his hair. It had nothing to do with Metallica at all.”
David Ellefson Talks About ’90s Haircut on ‘The David Ellefson Show’
Dave Mustaine’s Reaction to David Ellefson’s Haircut
Elleson said he talked the decision over with Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine, “because that was one of the things. You don’t just go rogue and do whatever you want, at least not in our band.” But even after running it by Mustaine, Ellefson said his image change got a lukewarm reception.
“And so one day, I buzzed my hair. And we get together in L.A. and he looks at me like, ‘Hmm.’ Kind of like, ‘Okay …'” Ellefson said. “Because we’re just starting a campaign. The pictures in the album, we’ve got long hair, and now suddenly …”
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Ellefson also realized some key ingredients missing in his short hair formula.
“I don’t have tattoos and I don’t have big fucking earrings,” he said. “Me with short hair, I look like a Cub Scout. I just look like a nice boy from the farm, like in church. I’m in the choir. I don’t pull it off because I don’t have tats and I don’t have some angry look on my [face]. Riki Rachtman [MTV Headbanger’s Ball host] had his tats. And these guys, they look fucking cool. I didn’t look cool. I just looked like a nerdy dude.”
Why David Ellefson Had a ‘S—-y Haircut’ in ‘Risk’ Photos
To add insult to injury, Ellefson spent a long time growing his hair back out only to have it unceremoniously chopped off before Megadeth took promotional photos for 1999’s Risk.
“At the photo shoot, the makeup chick goes, ‘Yeah, I think you should trim your hair,'” he remembered. “And she cuts it and it wasn’t a cut at all. It was a fucking bad haircut. So I’m like, ‘I spent all this time growing my hair out, only for the fucking minute that the camera takes the picture, you give me a shitty haircut!'”
It presaged bigger problems to come, as Risk‘s alt-rock sound received backlash from fans and critics and marked the final Megadeth album to feature guitarist Marty Friedman.
Megadeth would return to some of their thrash roots on 2001’s The World Needs a Hero.
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Contributions by Philip Trapp, Ed Rivadavia, Jordan Blum, Ayron Rutan and Joe DiVita.
Gallery Credit: Loudwire Staff
