In just nine days, "The Metal Tour Of The Year" co-headlined by MEGADETH and LAMB OF GOD will lay waste to cities across North America as the highly anticipated trek finally hits the road. MEGADETH has just announced that joining them to take care of bass duties for this tour will be former MEGADETH member James LoMenzo. MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine commented: "I'm happy to announce that former bassist and MEGADETH alumni James LoMenzo has graciously stepped in on 'The Metal Tour Of The Year'. Tour rehearsals just began, and we cannot wait to start crushing North America." LoMenzo added: "I'm super stoked to be rejoining MEGADETH for the upcoming 'Metal Tour Of The Year'. There are no better fans than MEGADETH fans, I can't wait to get out there and shred some MEGADETH music with you all." Rounding out the lineup for "The Metal Tour Of The Year" are TRIVIUM and HATEBREED. Produced by Live Nation, the rescheduled trek will now kick off on Friday, August 20 in Austin, Texas and hit a further 27 cities before wrapping in Quebec City, Quebec, Canda on Saturday, October 2. LoMenzo joined MEGADETH in 2006 and appeared on two of the group's studio albums, 2007's "United Abominations" and 2009's "Endgame". He was fired from the band in 2010 and replaced with returning original MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson. In addition to MEGADETH, LoMenzo has played with Ozzy Osbourne, Zakk Wylde and WHITE LION. For the past eight years, LoMenzo has been performing with iconic rocker John Fogerty. Mustaine has yet to reveal who played bass on the new MEGADETH album after David Ellefson's tracks were removed from the LP following his dismissal from the band in late May. Ellefson laid down his bass tracks on MEGADETH's sixteenth LP in May 2020 at a studio in Nashville, Tennessee. In July, Mustaine announced during an episode of his Gimme Radio program "The Dave Mustaine Show" that Ellefson's bass tracks would not be used on the new MEGADETH LP. In early May, on the same day that sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving Ellefson were posted on Twitter, he released a statement on Instagram denying all social media chatter that he "groomed" an underage fan. He also filed a report with the police department in Scottsdale, Arizona alleging unlawful distribution of sexually explicit images of Ellefson by unknown offenders. In the report, Ellefson admitted that he had been exchanging sexual text messages with a Dutch teenager, who captured a video of several of their virtual "masturbating encounters" without his consent and shared them with friends. (According to Ellefson, the woman was 19 at the time of their first virtual sexual encounter.) The 56-year-old Ellefson, who lives in Scottsdale, first became aware of the video on May 9, when the claim "David Ellefson of MEGADETH is a pedophile" appeared on Instagram. Ellefson told police he was notified on May 14 by MEGADETH that the band would be parting ways with him. Three days later, he was fired. On May 24, Mustaine — who formed MEGADETH with Ellefson in 1983 — announced the bassist's departure from the band. Two days later, Ellefson released a follow-up statement in which he vowed to file a "defamation lawsuit" against the person who "illegally posted a very private video" of the bassist and made "false allegations" against him. He also said he was working with the police in Scottsdale "in their investigation into charges regarding revenge pornography to be filed against the person who posted the video. This person will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Ellefson wrote. He went on to say that he was "taking this time to be with my family" and wished his "bandmates" the best with their upcoming tour. Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band's inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest departure. Photo credit: Yamaha
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