On the night Dimebag Darrell first met David Ellefson, he wanted to express how much Megadeth meant to him.

The former Megadeth bassist and founding member recently shared an early conversation he had with the late Pantera guitarist, recalling a “sobering” moment from their encounter.

Dimebag Darrell’s Favorite Megadeth Album

Alternative Nation recently featured a segment of an interview with Ellefson where he shared his thoughts on Pantera. The 60-year-old bassist discussed how he was first introduced to the band in their home state of Texas in 1988.

That night, Dimebag Darrell approached him to convey just how significant Megadeth was to him.

“We went out, drank hard, had a good time, and Dimebag – who was known as Diamond Darrell at that time – after we had been drinking all night, he comes up to me and looks me dead in the eye and says, ‘David, I just want to tell you the Peace Sells album changed my life.’ I kind of shrugged it off like, ‘Oh, thanks, man. Appreciate it.’

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Ellefson didn’t initially consider much about Dime’s expression of appreciation for Megadeth’s second studio album, 1986’s Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying? However, the Pantera guitarist seemed to recognize in that moment how important the album was to him.

“And I remember he put his hand on my shoulder. He said, ‘No, it changed my life,'” Ellefson explained during the Alternative Nation interview. “It was like a sobering moment right there when he said that.”

The Song Pantera Refused to Play When Opening For Megadeth

Four years after Ellefson met Dimebag Darrell, Megadeth invited Pantera to open for them on their 1992 world tour following the release of Countdown to Extinction.

The friendship between the two bands continued to develop throughout the European leg of the tour, leading to some playful teasing between them.

In a 2023 interview with Sense Music Media, Ellefson mentioned that Pantera declined to play Megadeth members’ favorite song, “Cemetery Gates,” every night of the tour despite the headliner’s requests.

During the final show of the tour, Pantera’s crew appeared onstage in their underwear as a humorous response to Megadeth’s persistent insistence on playing the song. They ultimately agreed and included it in the setlist that night.

“I think at that point, Vulgar (Display of Power) was so heavy, and Phil (Anselmo) had shaved his head and was on magazine covers. He was becoming a hardcore star at that point. He was bringing hardcore into the mainstream. And for them, ‘Cemetery Gates’ felt too much like a ballad. We were like, ‘C’mon, it’s a great song. You gotta play it.’

Currently, Pantera has no tour dates scheduled for the remainder of 2025. Their next performance is set for May 24, 2026, opening for Metallica in Frankfurt, Germany.