Lead singer of Guns N ‘Roses, who performed with the Australian band in 2016, was known for his lack of punctuality to go on stage
The year is 2016. Brian Johnsonvocalist of AC DC since 1980, had to be removed from the tour promoting the album rock or bust, with appointments scheduled in Europe and North America. With an advanced condition of deafness, the singer, then 69 years old, even had the chance of never being able to perform live again, as he could not hear himself.
The “Savior of the Fatherland? none other than Axl Rose. Big fan of the Australian band, the frontman of Armas e Rosas offered to fill the dates for Johnson while he recovered. Between May and September, the formation toured with the alteration. By the way, not just this one: the drummer’s bench was being occupied by Chris Sladeinstead of Phil Ruddwho at the time was dealing with legal problems (he was accused of drug possession and planning a murder, later being cleared of the second charge).
Despite so much speculation surrounding Axl’s performance, it’s safe to say that the Guns frontman took it by heart. Not only in the musical performance itself, but also in terms of professionalism. The famous delays to get on stage did not occur, in a practice that has also become common since the rounds of slash (guitar) and Duff McKagan (bass) to his own band, also in 2016.
In a 2021 interview with Vinyl WriterMusic, Slade was asked to speak about Rose. Among other details, he confirmed that the vocalist was never late and showed enormous respect for the role he was occupying.
“I know he’s had problems in the past, but the guy I met is really nice and talented. He was never late. Never. That’s what I was afraid of, because AC/DC is never a second late. If it starts at 8:30 pm, then it starts at 8:30 pm. On that tour, there was only one night with a problem – the guitar didn’t work, I think, and we were half an hour late. I found out later that it was the only time AC/DC was late for a show. They are very aware.”
Axl Rose on AC/DC
Also during the interview, Chris Slade revealed more details about Axl Rose’s work with AC/DC. One of the memories shared by the drummer was how the vocalist arrived at this job.
“Brian Johnson was unhappy with what he was doing. I heard him perfectly, it didn’t sound bad the way he thought it did. I told him that, but he didn’t like it. I don’t know the circumstances, but Tim, our tour manager, said that Brian was no longer with us. After a month or so, we went to Atlanta to audition some singers. Dick Jones (drum tech) told me next was Axl Rose.”
The initial reaction was one of astonishment. After all, it’s not every day that a partnership like this comes to fruition.
“I did not believe. I’ve heard a lot of stories about Axl. The next day, there he was. We shook hands and I thought, ‘this guy isn’t bad at all’. He was cracking jokes. When he sang, I didn’t know he had that voice, that he could sing like that. It was amazing from the start. He joined the band the next day. People may disagree, but I could hear him perfectly from the stage and some of the notes he hit were unbelievable. He warmed up for two hours every day. We were on the same floor, very close. I listened to him on the piano, doing scales and everything. And he’s a really funny guy. I know not everyone thinks that way, but that was my experience with Axl.”
In the end, Brian Johnson was able to recover from the problem of deafness with unprecedented equipment – about which he avoids giving details, by the way – and returned to AC / DC to record the album power up(2020). The band hasn’t performed live since their last show with Axl Rose in September 2016, but their return with Johnson and Phil Rudd will take place in early October, at the festival Power Tripin California.
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
