AC/DC: 4 Questions About Album/Tour Speculation
There’s some rocking again in the AC/DC rumor mill. This time, it’s about a potential new tour. Reportedly, AC/DC will announce a 2019-2020 world tour next week. Only time will…
LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 28: Musician Angus Young (L) and singer Brian Johnson of AC/DC perform at Dodger Stadium on September 28, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.
Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesThere's some rocking again in the AC/DC rumor mill. This time, it's about a potential new tour.
Reportedly, AC/DC will announce a 2019-2020 world tour next week. Only time will tell whether those reports are true, but when coupled with the new album AC/DC seems to be recording, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. Here are just four to start.
1. Will Brian Johnson be fronting AC/DC on tour?
Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesJohnson famously exited the band while on tour in 2016 due to hearing issues, and Axl Rose filled in on vocals for AC/DC's remaining tour dates. This new report says that Johnson will be fronting the band on stage again thanks to special in-ear monitors that prevent further damage to his hearing.
2. Who's going to play bass?
Chris Jackson/WireImage/Getty ImagesCliff Williams retired from the band in September 2016, however, he was spotted in Vancouver around the same time as everyone else in the band was in town at the Warehouse Studio in August 2018, the same studio where AC/DC has recorded their past three studio albums. Does this mean he's back?
3. Who's going to play drums?
Joel Ford/Getty ImagesChris Slade replaced Phil Rudd on drums in 2014 after Rudd got into a whole mess of legal trouble, including being charged with attempting to procure a murder. But Rudd was spotted at the Warehouse Studio in August 2018 with his AC/DC bandmates.
4. What's going on with this new album?
Mike Coppola/Getty ImagesIf there's a tour, there's a good chance it's in support of this new studio album that has been the subject of much speculation. After everyone was spotted in Vancouver, the grindcore band Terrorizer posted to their Facebook page in January 2019 that they ran into Johnson at the airport and asked him about whether he was singing on the new AC/DC album. Johnson replied, "Yes" and that he is "Sick of denying it." In February 2019, rumors started to swirl that the new album would serve as a tribute to late rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young and that there were unused recordings of Young in the archives that were being utilized on the new album. The most recent update came from longtime engineer Mike Fraser in April 2019 who said during an interview, "Well, yeah, I can say that we've been in the studio doing something. What's come of that I can't discuss yet."
