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Former Megadeth<\/a> bassist David Ellefson<\/a> explained\u00a0his\u00a0decision to cut his hair in the 1990s<\/a> \u2014 and no, he wasn’t inspired by fellow thrashers Metallica<\/a>, who also cut their hair<\/a> and donned makeup around the same time.<\/p>\n Ellefson reflected on\u00a0the drastic\u00a0image change in a new episode of\u00a0The David Ellefson Show\u00a0<\/em>podcast, which you can watch below.<\/p>\n “Okay, so we’re filming the, I guess it was the\u00a0‘Trust’ video, and it’s in L.A.,” Ellefson recalled. “I’ve got on this\u00a0$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.”<\/p>\n READ MORE: The ‘Big 4’ of Nu-Metal, According to David Ellefson<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The bassist had also\u00a0recently\u00a0become a father to his son Roman, which he felt precipitated an image change.<\/p>\n “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.\u00a0Sully [Erna<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Godsmack<\/a>] had short hair. Tommy Lee<\/a> had just cut his hair. It had nothing to do with Metallica at all.”<\/p>\n Elleson said he talked the decision over with Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine<\/a>, “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.<\/p>\n “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 …”<\/p>\n READ MORE: 17 Trends That Defined the Evolution of Fashion in Rock + Metal<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Ellefson also realized some key ingredients missing in his short hair formula.<\/p>\n “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\u00a0Headbanger’s Ball<\/em> host] had his tats. And these guys, they look fucking cool. I didn’t look cool. I just looked like a nerdy dude.”<\/p>\n 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\u00a0promotional\u00a0photos for 1999’s\u00a0Risk<\/em>.<\/p>\n “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!'”<\/p>\n It presaged bigger problems to come, as\u00a0Risk<\/em>‘s alt-rock sound\u00a0received backlash from fans and critics and marked the final\u00a0Megadeth album to feature guitarist\u00a0Marty Friedman<\/a>.<\/p>\n Megadeth would return to some of their thrash roots on 2001’s\u00a0The World Needs a Hero<\/em>.<\/p>\n Every album by Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax get ranked worst to best.<\/p>\n Contributions by Philip Trapp, Ed Rivadavia, Jordan Blum, Ayron Rutan and Joe DiVita.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Loudwire Staff<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nDavid Ellefson\u00a0‘Felt Like an Old, Washed-Up Biker’ Before He Cut His Hair<\/h3>\n
David Ellefson Talks About ’90s Haircut on ‘The David Ellefson Show’<\/h3>\n
Dave Mustaine’s Reaction to David Ellefson’s Haircut<\/h3>\n
Why David Ellefson Had a ‘S—-y Haircut’ in ‘Risk’ Photos<\/h3>\n
Every Thrash Metal ‘Big 4’ Album Ranked <\/h2>\n