Eliot Gordon Ellefson, the 51-year-old brother of Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, died earlier yesterday [May 19]. after a two-year battle with cancer.

In his memoir, “My Life With Deth”, David Ellefson wrote about his early family life, “I loved the farm [where I was raised, about six miles north of Jackson, Minnesota], but I didn’t love farming quite so much, so my brother, Eliot, was always the one who was going to take it over from my father when the time came. He showed an aptitude for farming from a very young age. When I started getting into music at eleven or twelve, Eliot was focusing on being disciplined and working around the farm.”

We wish David and his family a lot of strength and comfort in this difficult period.

Ellefson‘s autobiography, “My Life With Deth”, was made available on October 29 via Howard Books. The memoir chronicles the story of Ellefson‘s fall into addiction during the band’s early years, followed by his subsequent recovery and the return to faith which championed the band’s rise to fame over the past several decades. The book was written with Joel McIver, the bestselling author of 21 books on rock music, and features a foreword by Alice Cooper. World rights to “My Life With Deth” were sold to Philis Boultinghouse at Howard Books by agent Lisa Gallagher at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

Ellefson says: “My autobiography is not the usual tale of rock ‘n’ roll woe, but rather something I hope will truly inspire people. I have dedicated my life to my craft, and I wanted to share the story of how a kid with a bass guitar and the dream of rock stardom literally risked it all to move from the farm in Minnesota to Los Angeles, and with a lot of hard work, sacrifice and a little luck along the way, made the dream come true. I think the readers will enjoy the stories, as well as the hardships, of this way of life as a musician and artist. I’ve been very open about my life’s obstacles and the means by which I overcame them. Now, my hope is that this story will inspire others to follow their dreams and really live out the purpose for their lives, too.”

The book features contributions from Kerry King [Slayer], Scott Ian [Anthrax], Ellefson‘s current bandmate in Megadeth Shawn Drover and also former colleagues Chris Poland and Marty Friedman.