Dee Snider Has Great News For AC/DC Fans
In a recent interview with Ultimate Guitar, Dee Snider, lead singer of Twisted Sister, dropped some exciting information about Brian Johnson and AC/DC: "Yeah, he's back. His voice is back — not that his voice was gone, but he had this hearing problem, and yeah, I'm an OG AC/DC fan. I mean, I discovered them in Australia, and to see the classic lineup — you know, Cliff [Williams, bass] and Brian, Angus [Young, guitar], and Phil [Rudd] on drums...."
This follows a July article we published on Brian Johnson's departure from AC/DC and his possible return. As Johnson explained to The Sunday Times in a 2018 interview, the doctors informed him that he should quit performing or else risk going completely deaf. Johnson admitted that his hearing was already impeding his performances: "On stage it was getting harder and harder to hear the guitars, even hear the keys, and I was basically going on muscle memory. And I'm not the kind of guy who likes to cheat. The way I look at it, I had a great run."
In 2016, however, Asius Technologies, a company producing in-ear technology, released an authorized statement on their Facebook page concerning Brian Johnson's experience with the ADEL hearing technology: ""It WORKS... I was really moved and amazed to be able to hear music again like I haven't heard for several years now." Since then, however, only rumors about a new album and Johnson's return have existed.
Another mystery emerges
In the midst of these AC/DC rumors, there is one person more flummoxed than anyone else: Chris Slade, their drummer. On August 12, Rolling Stone published an interview between him and Andy Greene, who brought up a picture of the "classic lineup" taken in Vancouver earlier that year. Slade quickly brushed away the rumors: "There are so many rumors about AC/DC. There are daily, and I mean daily, rumors. 'Oh, Angus has bought New Zealand.' It's ridiculous. 'Oh, I know things because I know. They recorded an album and they're going to be touring in 2020!' You know what? They're not [laughs]." But Greene pushes the subject: "I'm looking at their Wikipedia page as we speak, and it lists you as their current drummer. Do you think that's accurate?"
"To my absolute knowledge, and this is me being absolutely honest, I am the current drummer in AC/DC. [Laughs]...It actually says that? I've never looked."
"I mean, it's just Wikipedia. But that's what it says."
Here, Greene finally pushed too far into the nerve: "Yeah, well, nobody has ever called me and said, 'By the way, you're not the current drummer,' or, 'By the way, Phil's been in the band for three years.'" From there, Greene wisely changes subjects. This, though, is the second time this year he's been asked about it: "I've had no indication that I'm not." The rumors probably won't rest until AC/DC finally releases their album, lineup, and tour dates.