DAVID ELLEFSON's 'Simple Truth': A Video Lesson

David Ellefson, who was fired from MEGADETH last year following a sex video scandal, has shared a clip in which he teaches you how to play his solo song "Simple Truth".

The bassist, who turned 57 last November, filmed the video as a message on Cameo, which lets users hire celebrities to record brief, personalized video messages about virtually any topic.

Ellefson originally released "Simple Truth" in April 2020 as part of an EP of the same name. At the time, the bassist said that he was donating proceeds from sales of the single to the Italian Red Cross which was on the frontline in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

Ellefson was joined on the track by vocalist Thom Hazaert, guitarist Andy Matongelli and drummer Paolo Caridi. Ex-GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal provided guest vocals.

More than two years ago, David told Madness To Creation how "Simple Truth" came about: "We actually wrote it on our first day of rehearsal in Milan, right after we did the show at KK's Steel Mill in the U.K. We got together to rehearse for the tour down there with the all-Italian band. That first day we got together and my singer Thom Hazaert, he says, 'Why don't we write a new song today?' I started chugging out a bass riff, which is the opening line of 'Simple Truth' and I just kind of went from this kind of raw DEAD KENNEDYS kind of punk rock bass line and out came the song.

"So it's kind of ironic, the other day as we were launching our initiatives for the David Ellefson Youth Music Foundation, it hit me," he continued. "I called Thom and said, 'Listen, you know we've been wanting to put this song 'Simple Truth' out? Times like these people aren't focusing so much on new music to buy as much as they are trying to figure out the path forward.' He said, 'Why don't we put the song up and donate all the proceeds from it and we’ll get it to go to the Italian Red Cross as part of the COVID-19 pandemic relief fund?' Since our band is from Italy and since they're all safe and sound, I said, 'This I think would be a perfect time to try to give something back to Italy.' That's exactly what we're doing with that song."

David was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest exit.

As previously reported, Ellefson and former MEGADETH guitarist Jeff Young reunited on stage on May 10 at Ultimate Jam Night, the long-running community-oriented show in residency at the famed Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California, as part of a special tribute to the so-called "Big Four" of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX. The event marked the first time David and Jeff had played MEGADETH songs together on stage since the U.K.'s Monsters Of Rock festival on August 20, 1988.

The Whisky A Go Go concert came four months after Ellefson and Young reunited in Los Angeles for interviews to be included in the upcoming feature-length documentary "This Was My Life: The Story Of Nick Menza". Ellefson has signed on as a co-producer of the film, and also will provide narration to guide the viewer through the exploration of the late MEGADETH drummer's life.

Last month, Ellefson told The Neurotic Guitarist that he and Young "have been working on a couple of new songs."

Ellefson, Young and another former MEGADETH guitarist, Chris Poland, will perform "a very special set of thrash classics" at the fall 2022 edition of the Days Of The Dead horror and pop culture convention, set to take place November 18-20 at Crowne Plaza O'Hare in Rosemont, Illinois. The "Days Of The Deth" performance on Saturday, November 19 will be open to anyone with a Days Of The Dead ticket. V.I.P. pass holders will have early entrance to the event.

In 2004, Ellefson filed an $18.5-million lawsuit against Dave Mustaine, alleging the MEGADETH leader shortchanged him on profits and backed out of a deal to turn Megadeth Inc. over to him when the band broke up in 2002. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed and Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH in 2010.