Brian Johnson says Axl Rose did a “fantastic job” filling his role in AC/DC
The Guns N’ Roses frontman took over vocal duties after Johnson paused touring due to health problems.
Image: Brian Rasic / Getty
Brian Johnson has laid on the praise for Axl Rose, specifically for how he performed when he filled in on AC/DC’s vocal duties in 2016.
Axl Rose joined AC/DC temporarily, after singer Brian Johnson was told to stop touring immediately – or face serious hearing loss. Johnson has since rejoined the group for their latest record, PWR UP, out today (13 November), along with bassist Cliff Williams and drummer Phil Rudd.
Speaking to Ultimate Classic Rock, Johnson said: “He jumped into a tough, tough vocalist gig. You’ve got to be on top of your game for that. There’s not many resting places. You’ve really got to go in full chop, all of the time. And for him to do that at such short notice was pretty fantastic. I’ve got a lot of respect for what he did, you know. A lot of respect.”
He also spoke of the potential return to live music – after the pandemic – and whether his hearing will once again be a problem. He doesn’t think it will, saying: “We had a little tryout, and it was real good, I thought, for me anyway. So, absolutely. I can’t wait.”
When that will be, it’s unclear. Live Nation optimistically predicted that summer 2021 will see the return of full-scale concerts – however, rock concerts as we’re used to them – with singing, shouting, standing shoulder-to-shoulder and so on – are harder to enforce social distancing and other safety measures at. When concerts do return, it’s likely they’ll look very different from what we know.
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