Since being fired from Megadeth in 2010, James Lomenzo, the group’s former bass player, recently gave his comments in an interview with Australia’s Wall Of Sound on his return to Megadeth in 2022. Joining the group in 2006, he was then replaced by the group’s original bassist, David Ellefson. Ellefson continued to play for the band from 2010 until he was excused for a scandal dealing with leaked sexually explicit messages.
Photo Credit: Mauricio Alvarado
Reflecting on the initial departure from the group, Lomenzo held no hurt feelings about being fired and was grateful for his time with the group. He stated in an interview with Ashdown Engineering, “I had to take the charge of the bass spot when he couldn’t be there. So when he came back, I was fine with it. I’ve done two great albums — ‘United Abominations’ and ‘Endgame’; we’ve done two world tours, been all over the place. And so at that point, I was kind of excited to maybe try something new.”
Rejoining the group back in May 2022, Lomenzo wasn’t too surprised at getting re-offered his role as the band’s bassist saying, “When they needed a bass player — it became apparent — I thought to myself, ‘They’ll probably call me up.’ But I also thought to myself, ‘It’s been a while since I played that kind of music, so maybe it’ll be great.”
In the interview the bassist also touched on his shock coming back to the band after so many years. With new members, Lomenzo described his return as, “mind-boggling”, he elaborated, “I didn’t know what to think when I was coming back. I knew Dave [Megadeth leader] would be there, I knew it would sound like Megadeth, ’cause as long as Dave is singing and playing guitar, it is Megadeth. But the new guys, I knew they were good, but when I got in the room and Dirk [Verbeuren] just started slamming his drums, I was just blown away.”
With his first show in 12 years with the group being back in August 2021, frontman, Dave Mustaine, commented on Lomenzo’s return in a previous interview with Revolver saying, “Everybody is really, really happy with him. I haven’t really seen that much pushback from the fans. I know that the two people that matter the most, besides me, Dirk and Kiko, love him. It’s what I wanted.”
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