4 Questions We Still Have About AC/DC and Axl Rose
As crazy as it seems, AC/DC – or at least what’s left of it – are just two and a half weeks away from launching a European stadium tour with Axl Rose on lead vocals. Guitarist Malcolm Young had to leave the group following their 2010 tour due to dementia, drummer Phil Rudd had serious legal issues that legally prevented him from leaving New Zealand, and frontman Brian Johnson has hearing problems that make touring impossible. One might think that last blow would be enough to bring the Rock or Bust Tour to a screeching halt, but Angus Young and Cliff Williams seem determined to see this thing through to the end. They also seem determined to do it without uttering a word to the press other than carefully constructed press releases, and Axl Rose hasn’t made himself available either. This strategy has led to all sorts of lingering questions about the bizarre state of AC/DC, not to mention Guns N’ Roses. Here are four of them.
1. Is Brian Johnson really OK with all this?
When AC/DC announced the postponement of their tour dates on March 7th, they merely said that the shows would be performed at some future point, “likely with a guest vocalist.” It was quite the bombshell to drop casually in middle of a rather dry press release. Johnson may be a replacement vocalist himself, but he’s been in the group for 36 years. He’s on Back in Black, for God’s sake. This is not like Foreigner or Yes, where some random guy is singing that few people in the audience can even name, let alone care about.
The press release didn’t contain a single word from Johnson himself, though his good buddy Jim Breuer said the singer felt “kicked to the curb.” The comedian later frantically walked back those comments, but they seemed to confirm suspicions that the public wasn’t hearing all sides of this story. Right around this time, photographers captured Axl Rose walking out of the same rehearsal hall as Angus Young and Cliff Williams. It was presumed Axl might sing with the group at a few gigs, but on Saturday night – right before Guns N’ Roses played Coachella, and brought out Angus Young to guest on two songs – they announced that Rose would be fronting AC/DC at all the remaining shows on the European and U.S. tours.
“AC/DC band members would like to thank Brian Johnson for his contributions and dedication to the band throughout the years,” they wrote in a statement. “We wish him all the best with his hearing issues and future ventures.” Seriously? That reads like an accounting firm wishing a fond farewell to a retiring CPA, not one of the biggest rock bands on the planet parting ways with their singer of more than a third of a century.
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