Former AC/DC singer Brian Johnson made a guest appearance with Muse to perform classic track Back In Black, on the weekend, at the Reading Festival – see a clip of the performance below.
The surprise was one of just a handful of performances Johnson has delivered since being forced to retire last year after suffering hearing problems.
Towards the end of the band’s Rock Or Bust world tour, the vocalist was told that if he didn’t stop performing immediately he risked total deafness. After cancelling a run of shows AC/DC returned with Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose in Johnson’s place.
Since then, Johnson has been working on ways to combat his health issues. He said last year, “My entire focus is to continue medical treatment to improve my hearing. I am hoping that in time my hearing will improve and allow me to return to live concert performances. While the outcome is uncertain, my attitude is optimistic.”
In May, he and Robert Plant, joined Paul Rodgers on stage in England, for a rendition of Money (That’s What I Want). Last year he recorded two album tracks, one for the Greg Billings Band and one for old friend, comedian Jim Breuer.
The future of AC/DC remains unclear, although guitarist Angus Young said in 2016 that he felt “obligated” to keep the band going.
additional source: Classic Rock via teamrock.com
7 Responses
I don’t know what’s funnier…the fact that I’ve never heard of the band Muse (who seem quite popular based on the crowd)….or the crowd chanting ‘dun…nunanun….nunanun….’ at the beginning of the song.
Either way great to see Brian on stage.
MUSE is huge in Europe. I heard a short clip on VEVO, the band and Brian sounded really good.
I hope this means that Brian is recovering and he will eventually return to the stage with AC/DC. From the clips I heard, I thought Axl sounded great singing the songs, particularly those of the Bon era, but it was karaoke.
Brian Johnson can make anybody sound good, even these guys I’ve never heard of before! But, I am not aMUSEd! Where’s Angus? Sounds like Brian is ready to “Rock The Blues Away” once again! 😉
I thought it was great to see Brian onstage again, muse is a pretty good band check em out they are not a metal band but they have their moments- the crowd noise was pretty loud, but from what I heard he sounded like himself classic ac/dc – as you get older hearing loss does not get better, if he had an injury that can be repaired that’s one thing , but getting old, nothing you can do …. but hearing aids do get better, they are coming out with amazing new technology for hearing and I hope Brian can take advantage of what’s out there and continue to get onstage and do what he loves to do, he still has that signature voice –
I love Brian as he’s probably the nicest guy in rock, but doesn’t it feel like the hearing thing was just an excuse to get him out? I’ve heard rumblings that Angus wasn’t getting along with him, and the Axl thing happened pretty quickly. Some of the rumors of the band sending him away and mailing his stuff home just doesn’t sound good, along with how quiet Brian has been about this. Plus, the band played longer, many more deep cuts and Angus has played songs at a handful of Guns shows. I don’t think Axl undercut Brian at all, but Angus may have. He sure looked re-energized at the Axl/DC show I saw. I just hope Angus will call Brian because I want new Guns songs if it’s possible.