David Ellefson Thanks 'Dear Friends' Metallica for Concert Pass

David Ellefson spent his birthday at a Metallica concert this past Sunday (Nov. 12), and shared a post thanking the band for the "wonderful birthday celebration." In his post was a photo of the former Megadeth bassist with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, and fans have had quite a bit to say about the friendship.

Metallica played their final two shows of 2023 over the weekend in Detroit, and Ellefson was in attendance for the Sunday night show, which was also his 59th birthday. Following the event, he shared a series of photos on his Instagram which featured one of him with Ulrich and several others of Metallica's stage and backstage areas.

"A heartfelt thanks to my dear friend Lars Ulrich & the Metallica camp for giving me the wonderful birthday celebration of All Access passes in Detroit. What a great way to celebrate my birthday with great songs and longtime friends!" the bassist wrote. "And a huge thanks to everyone for their kind birthday wishes to me as well. Thanks for celebrating another trip around the sun!"

See the post below.

The photos are obviously somewhat of a big deal due to Megadeth and Metallica's complicated history. Although Dave Mustaine seems to be on better terms with the members of Metallica these days, there was a lot of tension between the groups for years. Ellefson, who was fired from Megadeth in 2021, even recently said himself that he's glad he can wear Metallica shirts again now that he's no longer associated with Megadeth and Mustaine.

"Hey, man, I'm a Metallica fan. I mean, talk about gold standards. They're the one for metal. They have gone on to do the impossible," Ellefson praised of the band during an interview on The Mike Nelson Show.

"I mean, really, when you think about it in the touring business, there's Taylor Swift, there's Metallica, maybe Beyonce, Guns N' Roses. And thank God, man, they're at the top. We need them to be at the top, because if they're at the top, that means all boats rise to that level. So we want Metallica to be fucking Apple computer — we need them to be for our genre."

This past weekend wasn't the first time Ellefson has seen Metallica live in recent years, though. He's apparently "always" gone to see them play whenever he had the opportunity to, even back in the 1980s when the group was touring behind their debut album Kill 'Em All.

Fans, however, haven't held back in sharing their thoughts about Ellefson's post.

"This is like when your wife divorces you and you post pics with your new gf," one account commented on his photo.

"Dave Mustaine in tears right now," someone else wrote, with another person adding that they initially thought Ellefson was announcing he had joined Metallica when they first saw the photo.

On Megadeth's Reddit page, on the other hand, fans shared how they think the reunion between Ellefson and Ulrich may have gone.

"Wonder how that convo went lmao. Tbh despite the drama in the fan community with Ellefson probably more catching up as old friend/acquaintances than anything else hopefully," one fan noted.

"It’s a photo for trolling purposes only. I’m sure there was very little conversation," another person speculated.