Megadeth
Photo: Danny Clinch
Where Does Megadeth's David Ellefson Keep His GRAMMY?
Few bands can boast the longevity, impact and relevance in metal that thrash gods Megadeth. In early 2017, their hard work was rewarded with the GRAMMY for Best Metal Performance at the 59th GRAMMY Awards for "Dystopia," the title track from their 15th studio album.
"We've never written songs to win GRAMMYs, or any awards quite honestly," Megadeth bassist and co-founder David Ellefson tells the Recording Academy during a recent visit to his Arizona home to see where he keeps his GRAMMY. "We just write songs. And it seems like if we like them, our fans like them."
While this might have been Megadeth's first GRAMMY win, it was far from their first nomination. Ellefson and his band had been nominated an impressive 12 times throughout their career, earning their first nomination back in 1990 for their influential thrash masterpiece Rust In Peace.
For Ellefson, even if the goal isn't to win any awards, there is still a sense of conquering that comes from creating what you know to be your best work.
"I think with Dystopia there was this moment where [we said], 'if they don't like this we're out of ideas.' Because every record you make, you're essentially creating your next future," says Ellefson. "And I don't care who you are and how great of a record you feel you've made, when you first put it on for somebody to hear it, there's always this moment of like, 'oh god, I hope they like this.' We certainly have had that with every album, and I think with Dystopia, we held our heads high… It seems to have done the trick to get us to the winner's circle."
