Sightings Start Rumours AC/DC Are Recording
Current and past members spotted together at studio.
There’s growing excitement among AC/DC fans following reports that band members are holed up, and possibly recording, in Canada. Speculation over renewed activity began on August 8 when singer Brian Johnson and drummer Phil Rudd – both estranged former members of the group for their last bout of touring – were photographed together laughing and joking outside Warehouse Studios in Vancouver, where the band recorded their last three albums. There were also reports of guitarist Stevie Young, who officially joined the band in September 2014 following the retirement of his uncle Malcolm Young, being seen in the city. Later on the same day another photo appeared online, this time showing Stevie and Angus Young having a ciggie outside the same studio. An umbrella has since been placed on the studio’s decking to block the view of the doorway.
More fuel was added to the rumour mill when cameras caught Johnson and Rudd with the band’s long-serving engineer and mixer Mike Fraser, who has worked on AC/DC’s last five studio albums.
The apparent return of Johnson, forced to step back from the band in 2016 because of the threat of permanent deafness and replaced by Axl Rose to complete AC/DC’s Rock Or Bust world tour, was totally unexpected. However, Jonno had spoken about working with audio experts Asius on a solution for his hearing problems.
Far more surprising is the presence of Rudd, also ejected from AC/DC the same year after being charged with various crimes and found guilty of drug possession – and who then served an eight-month home-arrest sentence. Last June he told Classic Rock: “I want my job back, but of course it’s all down to Angus. Whether he’d want me or not, I don’t know. I’ve been through that bullshit with substances and am happy to have come out the other side. Angus is the boss, and whoever he’s organised to be around him, I can fit in.”
Assuming the rumours are true and AC/DC are recording, the question many people are asking is who’s playing bass. Upon retiring from the group in 2016,
Cliff Williams stated: “Losing Malcolm [to dementia], the thing with Phil and now with Brian [the band is] a changed animal. I feel in my gut [this is] the right thing [to do].” But with Johnson and Rudd seemingly back in the fold, it seems entirely possible that Williams could change his mind. DL