After much speculation, former AC/DC drummer Chris Slade has reunited with the band. Slade has confirmed that he will play drums for the band’s featured performance tomorrow at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards which air tomorrow, February 8, at 8pm EST on CBS. As of right now, Slade is also expected to tour with the band on their massive world tour that begins in May. Slade released the following statement today:
“This is an amazing opportunity for me. After all, most people don’t ever get to play with their favourite band once, let alone TWICE! I would like to thank everyone for the overwhelming support I have been shown personally, on the Facebook page and other social media. Not one comment has gone unread and it has been very humbling. Thanks so much. We apologise for the secrecy. Please understand this was for all the right reasons.”
Although AC/DC recruited former Shogun drummer Bob Richards to fill in for the troubled Phil Rudd amid
his ongoing legal issues for the band’s two music videos, Slade is the obvious choice for the band in the long-term. Slade was a member of AC/DC from 1989-1994 and played drums on their 1990 album The Razor’s Edge. The album hit #2 on the Billboard Top 200 and contains some of the band’s biggest hits. To date, the disc has sold over 5 million copies in the U.S. alone. Slade also appears on the band’s 1992 live effort AC/DC Live. While best known for his stint with AC/DC, Slade as also performed with the likes of Asia, Gary Numan, Manfred Man’s Earth Band, Terra Nova, Bloodstock, David Gilmore, Uriah Heep, Gary Moore, Tom Jones, The Firm, Damage Control, and others. The band recently announced the first round of tour dates for their 2015 Rock or Bust World Tour. The worldwide trek will begin with a European leg that kicks off on May 5 at the Gelredome in Arnhem, Netherlands. More tour dates and festivals are set to be announced around the world in the coming weeks.
AC/DC’s new disc Rock or Bust (Columbia Records) just debuted at #3 on the Billboard Top 200. Stevie Young, nephew of lead guitarist Angus Young and former rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, makes his debut with the band in the video. Stevie played rhythm guitar on the new album and will tour with the band in 2015 in place of Malcolm who sadly retired from the band due to illness. The new album was produced by Brendan O’Brien and mixed by Mike Fraser, both of whom worked on the band’s previous effort Black Ice. The disc debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 and sold over 784,000 copies in it’s first week of sales. It was one of only two albums the band released that decade (Stiff Upper Lip, 2000). The disc garnered the band the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for the track “War Machine”. AC/DC are undeniably one of the greatest music artists of all time. To date, the band has sold over 200 million albums worldwide and have produced some of hard rock and heavy metal’s biggest anthems. – by Matt Bishop