classicrockmagazine.com
AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson has confirmed the band will be back in action soon to mark their 40th anniversary.
The Aussie giants – who played their first gig on December 31, 1973 – are planning to start studio work in May, then they’ll deliver one concert for every year of their career.
And the singer has confirmed their schedule had been put on hold while one member of the band dealt with serious health issues.
Johnson tells 98.7 The Gater: “We’ve been denying anything because we weren’t sure. One of our boys was pretty ill, so we didn’t like to say anything. We’re pretty private about things like this; he’s a very proud man.
“But I think we’ll be going in the studio in May in Vancouver – which means we should be getting ready.
“It’s been 40 years of the band’s existence, so I think we’re going to try to go 40 gigs to thank the fans for their undying loyalty. We’re happy to go out even though we’re getting a bit long in the tooth – I’m really looking forward to it.”
AC/DC were last on the road from 2008 until 2010 in support of 16th studio album Black Ice. The three-year trek remains the fourth-biggest grossing tour of all time, having brought in more than $440m.
In 2012 Johnson said the band were considering making a follow-up, but that they’d be unlikely to tour on the same scale, commenting: “It has to be right for the boys to do anything. We’re saying, ‘Can we do this? We’re not going to be a pale shadow of our former selves?’
“We’ll talk about it and make sure we’ve all got it. We’re five pieces of a card – if one of us is not really there, the whole thing would just collapse, I think.”
AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson has confirmed the band will be back in action soon to mark their 40th anniversary.
The Aussie giants – who played their first gig on December 31, 1973 – are planning to start studio work in May, then they’ll deliver one concert for every year of their career.
And the singer has confirmed their schedule had been put on hold while one member of the band dealt with serious health issues.
Johnson tells 98.7 The Gater: “We’ve been denying anything because we weren’t sure. One of our boys was pretty ill, so we didn’t like to say anything. We’re pretty private about things like this; he’s a very proud man.
“But I think we’ll be going in the studio in May in Vancouver – which means we should be getting ready.
“It’s been 40 years of the band’s existence, so I think we’re going to try to go 40 gigs to thank the fans for their undying loyalty. We’re happy to go out even though we’re getting a bit long in the tooth – I’m really looking forward to it.”
AC/DC were last on the road from 2008 until 2010 in support of 16th studio album Black Ice. The three-year trek remains the fourth-biggest grossing tour of all time, having brought in more than $440m.
In 2012 Johnson said the band were considering making a follow-up, but that they’d be unlikely to tour on the same scale, commenting: “It has to be right for the boys to do anything. We’re saying, ‘Can we do this? We’re not going to be a pale shadow of our former selves?’
“We’ll talk about it and make sure we’ve all got it. We’re five pieces of a card – if one of us is not really there, the whole thing would just collapse, I think.”
(This was from an interview I read a couple of years ago with Brian himself). He had been in a band called 'Geordie' (I remember seeing them on TV over here a couple of times - they were ok) But after some minor success they split up. Brian was broke and returned to his roots in the North-East of England to earn some money fixing up cars. He received a phone call from an agent in London who said 'a band', who he could not name, wanted to audition Brian. The answer? - "No I haven't got time, gotta sort these cars out". The agent was persistent though, and continued to call over the next few days. Brian finally relented, and the rest is history.
