AC/DC Rumor: Is Brian Johnson Back?

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Brian Johnson

When Brian Johnson announced his departure from AC/DC in the midst of a tour in 2016, due to hearing loss, fans had every reason to believe they’d never see the singer fronting the band again. Since then, however, Johnson has turned up at others’ gigs—Paul Rodgers, Mick Fleetwood and Muse, among them, fueling hopes that he’d some day find his way back to the band he called home for decades.

Now news coming out of Vancouver in recent days has provided the most promising sign yet that Johnson has no intention of hanging up his rock ’n’ roll shoes permanently: He’s been seen, and even photographed, in the Canadian city entering a recording studio where AC/DC guitarist Stevie Young and former drummer Phil Rudd have also been spotted recently (one photo shows Rudd and Johnson together outside the studio, both smiling). Whether this means that Johnson is involved in an upcoming AC/DC recording project has neither been confirmed nor denied by the band, but several online news articles have speculated strongly that the musicians are up to something in there, as they recorded their last three albums at that location, Warehouse Studios.

Since Johnson’s exit from the band, AC/DC has been using Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose as their lead singer in concert, a move that has received mixed reactions from fans. If indeed the Australian rockers are involved with making their first album since 2014’s Rock or Bust, and especially if either Johnson and/or Rudd are involved in it, that would mark a major turn of events for the band.

Following Johnson’s initial diagnosis, AC/DC was forced to postpone the last 10 dates of their then-ongoing North American tour. The vocalist issued a statement at that time that said he hoped to be able to resume his performance career eventually. “My entire focus is to continue medical treatment to improve my hearing,” he said. “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.”

That he was able to make the recent guest appearances so soon surprised even Johnson. “I was really moved and amazed to be able to hear music again like I haven’t heard for several years now,” he said, crediting in-ear hearing technology for the improvement in his hearing.

Watch Brian Johnson sing “Back in Black” with Muse in 2017