Yesterday, a classic rock morning show co-host in Atlanta had a ridiculous claim, saying a “source” told him that Axl Rose would be filling in for AC/DC in the wake of Brian Johnson’s sudden departure. Why’s that ridiculous? Well, Axl has barely been able to fill in in Guns N’ Roses. The fact that Slash is back in the band and they’ll be playing some shows starting next month would suggest that he’s giving GN’R a serious go for the first time in a while, but there are only five shows booked. On the other hand, maybe it’s not that ridiculous – AC/DC only have 10 shows remaining, so it’s not the most grueling scheduled. And as it was pointed out, Axl has sung AC/DC onstage before.
At any rate, you’d think that AC/DC’s PR would quickly shoot down the rumors (shoot down in flames, even). NME reached out to a press representative, probably expecting a denial, or at least a “no comment.” However, they got back to them with a terse, but revealing, comment:
“Nothing official to announce. Will update you if that changes.”
That’s not a denial. In fact, it’s pretty much almost confirming that there have been talks with Axl. NME has also approached a rep for Guns N’ Roses, but given that they haven’t even officially unveiled the lineup that will be playing Coachella in two weeks, they probably won’t be issuing any statements anytime soon. It’s actually hard to imagine Axl being focused enough to sing AC/DC songs for two hours, or the band putting up with the notoriously eccentric singer. And given that Guns N’ Roses has pretty much been Axl Rose for the last twenty years, it’s also hard to imagine him putting his ego aside to help one of rock’s most iconic bands complete the shows they’re obligated to do. But if Rose does do it, those ten remaining shows will instantly become even more of a must-see event than it already was.
