4/17: AXL JOINS AC/DC, MY TAKE.

Well now the news is official about Axl’s involvement in AC/DC, at least to fill in for these remaining shows. If you heard my podcast this is what Axl and I discussed at the Vegas show last weekend and he asked me not to speak about until it was officially out. Needless to say for Axl this is a moment for him to play with his heroes. He told me how excited he was to have the chance to do this and said he would do an interview with me about it if I didn’t say anything until official word comes out. So hopefully that is coming! You also no doubt know Angus jammed with GnR last night at Coachella to make it official. The clips on YouTube sounded cool and clearly vocally Axl can handle the gig. But there are way more questions than that. The release from AC/DC made it pretty clear they are done with Brian Johnson. What really happened with Brian is anyone’s guess. But nobody is buying the hearing thing that I know. My sources tell me Brian was slowing down and didn’t want to work as hard as Angus (who is younger) did. I also know that on the latest tour Brian only wanted to do 2-3 shows max a week. Something that is expensive for a band when off that much on the road (Aerosmith has to do this with Tyler). It comes with age and guys slowing. I suspect it reached a breaking point and that was that. I can not believe it was a sudden hearing issue. Maybe it played a small role, but no way is it the real story in full. I can’t believe after 36 years AC/DC would say goodbye to their singer and not find a work around. MANY have hearing issues and find a way to make it work in rock. And until Brian speaks, we will never know. Brian is a total class act. So very possible he takes the high road here. But it still blows me away how so many fans are not demanding a real answer on Brian and are so quick to move on.

But none of this has anything to do with Axl who will be a kid in a candy store! What a story for him. He has Guns back to mega stadium level, and is joining a band of heroes about to do stadiums in Europe! Hopefully his leg is mended so he can move some. Also note the remaining AC/DC dates all already fall in a window GnR was off. So this doesn’t impact them at all. AC/DC needed a massive name to keep people from returning these already sold tickets for the remaining dates. They certainly got that with Axl. But that doesn’t answer their long term issue of a singer IF they want to go on beyond this. I doubt Axl can do both gigs full time? If this is a victory lap for AC/DC then cool. Finish up and say goodbye. If they want to go for another 10 years, and that may have been they very issue with Brian, then they need a new younger singer they can build with. I also wouldn’t be shocked if Axl/DC leans a bit more on Bon era material since that really fits him slightly more. Will this work? Will they mesh personality wise? Axl will have to go on at a normal time. Does that work? I think Axl will do everything to kick ass in this gig. It is a major dream for him. He knows he’s having a fun fling here and that while Guns is very much his band, AC/DC is just filling in and doing something he never believed as a kid he would do. It will be another very interesting chapter to watch for sure!

I will take calls on this tomorrow on my SiriusXM show live 6-10P ET on channel 39. I will also have Bret Michaels on at 7P ET with an exclusive announcement on a major event in S CA, and Rudy from Scorpions on live at 8P ET. See you tomorrow for TRUNKNation.

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  • Jeez S. Christ on

    Let me pontificate:
    You are all worthless and weak!
    F–king Axl will jam this mutha-f–kah out! Does anyone remember the little witty bitty album that came out the last time Angus switched singers? That is an album that the Aliens who conquer us will bow down to. Get ready for the Axl version of Back In Black, I think it will be like Appetite times For Those About To Rock divided by Powerage. I am ashamed of all you complainers and whiners, and especially you Eddie for not giving this all the positive energy and good vibes it deserves.
    Forget Axl’s attitude problems and truancy. I will wait all damn night to see this line-up, sounds like I am the only one who’s sure he’ll have a good time.
    Buncha goddamn complainers. And F–k Brian Johnson too, I paid to hear him sing with Angus and he was a good value but now he’s done, even Lemmy would say: “push the dead meat along, it starts to stink right away”, which is advice everyone should take here.
    I mean, they could have gone with Olivia Newton-John, she’s like available and stuff.


    • Dana on

      I am not sure if there was a hint of sarcasm in your comment, but cursing Brian Johnson, is unnecessarily cruel, and completely unjustified. As if he willingly chose to have hearing difficulties.

      Unfortunately, when one is ill, or suffers from a malady, that is when one truly learns who are in their corner. A glowing example of a support system would be Def Leppard, who stood by Rick Allen after he lost his arm. I wish more bands would follow their lead, Leppard’s loyalty to their band members, is really quite special.

      D 🙂


    • robert davenport on

      hey Dana I completely agree with your thoughts ,
      also there is something really wrong with this guy if that’s how he views brain’s situation.
      my opinion is, all successful / iconic bands are only successful because of their fans. I do not think AC/DC will be the same with another singer, a lot of fans will most likely move on- in time the whole truth will come out about the real reason Brian is gone.”The simplest explanation is more likely to be accurate than more complicated explanations.” “Occam’s razor ”
      glad I was able to use the site today ! ~bobby d.


    • Dana on

      Thank you, Bob.

      Glad you were able to use the site as well. 🙂

      D 🙂


    • Doug R. on

      “Now he’s done,” so f-k Brian Johnson? NO, f-k you! That was the worst post I ever read, go back to Blabbermouth or wherever the hell you came from, bend over, and shove all that hate up your ass!


    • shannon mehaffey on

      LOL>..holy crap someone actually pissed Doug R off, do you guys have any idea how hard that is to do? I’ve called Doug so many names, made fun of him, he’s never gotten pissed at me, not one time!

      Doug here’s to you, I’m having a drink on you.

      Where’s DR and Monet?

      (DR “Eye to Eye” ..now THAT is how you do a fade out)


    • Doug R. on

      LMFAO! Cheers Shannon! Yeah I wasn’t myself last night, I wasn’t in my usual good mood to begin with, and then the Rangers lost to the Penguins, and then I read that post from some schmuck disrespecting Brian Johnson. After 36 years of busting his ass (and his vocal cords) for us fans, show the man some respect! None of this sh*t that’s going on is Brian’s fault anyway, do you think he wanted any of this to happen? Risk losing his hearing completely, not being able to finish the tour, if you read his statement you would know, you should know nobody feels worse about all of this than Brian. Whatever that dude’s issues are, you cannot disrespect a legend like Brian Johnson and not expect it to blow up in your face. Let’s see that poster talk like that at a AC/DC concert, hell, even Axl would kick his ass! Richman…Monet disappeared again, DR? He’s around here somewhere.


    • shannon mehaffey on

      The thing is, Doug, a guy in his 20s would be blowing out his lungs singing on Back in Black, that is, you would be hard pressed to find a kid with that kind of stamina…Brian was like an axiom of rock singing…I don’t even think Axl has that kind of professionalism in him, to be so stripped down like that and to sound like another, very well honed, yet, blunt instrument.
      We need Monet to weigh in here.

      And Dana, where’s her take on this deal?


    • Dana on

      Confounded, would be the word of the day, for me.

      D 🙂


    • shannon mehaffey on

      By the way, Doug, I just read that post, and I couldn’t have said it better..Cheers to you, mate.


  • MikeyMan on

    Gary Cherone! AC/DC 3


    • Rick Jones on

      Lol


  • Rick Jones on

    Eddie, where are the rock news headlines? Are those returning ?


  • chris saari on

    I have a feeling that Brian needed to slow down because of his his hearing, age or voice and Angus went with Rose to finish the gigs.
    I would like to see the Rose/AC/DC collaboration live because I was really surprised how good Rose sounded doing Riff Raff!!
    That said I really don’t think Rose is the new singer for AC/DC, and if he does manage to get the nod he’s not going to last long without a Whole Lotta Therapy!! Rose is too used to Calling the Shots and doing things His way. AC/DC is Mal and Angus Young’s Band, now that Mal is gone it’s Angus’ band and you do Not Cross Swords with Angus Young; all you have to do is ask Mark Evans [who Mal and Angus kept from getting into the R&R Hall of fame with AC/DC not mention the way He was fired] or Phil Rudd [who was Fired in 1983 for getting into it with Angus and then disowned when he got in trouble with the law].
    In AC/DC you what the Young Brothers want When and How They want it or you’re gone, it Is that Simple.
    I’ll still love AC/DC no matter if they get a new singer or call it a day, but to be mad at them because of what happened to Brian is to like acting surprised that you got Bit by a Rattlesnake who was warning you that you were too close to it.
    I’m not sticking up for what was done to Brian but, I Really can’t say that I’m too Shocked that he was left behind either.


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