Recently interviewed by Classic 21, exclusively for us, Brian Johnson returned in particular to the long-awaited return of AC/DC on stage as well as to his last concert, with the Foo Fighters, in tribute to drummer Taylor Hawkins.
About the group’s scheduled return to the gigantic Powertrip festival in California, he told us:
“We were told about this project a little over a month ago, but we had to keep the info secret and it was very difficult for me. Because, every time I met someone, I was said ‘hey Brian, so when is the band back on the road?’ and I had to say ‘oh I don’t know, no plan, there’s nothing at the moment’ and I had to lie, it was horrible! But hey, this wonderful opportunity to find us all together has arrived. remember that 3 years ago we were in Amsterdam, recording the videos for the Power Up album, and we couldn’t wait to show it to the public, the songs were great… we were ready to go on tour when our tour manager came to us saying ‘uh guys, we have a little problem, there’s something, a chinese flu at the moment, can’t you go home for 6 weeks and then we’ll put that in place’. And obviously, it lasted two years! It was a terrible time… So since then we’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to get back to it. I’m very excited to be there, to join the guys and to pass I have these new hearing aids invented especially for me by Stephen Ambrose, I tested them last year with the Foo Fighters at Wembley and they work great, I can jump all over the place, move and I finally get out of these 5 years in prison because of my hearing problems. It was awesome and I can now say that at 75, and soon to be 76, I can still do it. Just go one more time, I don’t know, maybe two more, three more, I don’t know how many more times I could but I fully intend to take this opportunity. If I can end my life on stage with the band I love, then I don’t need anything else.”
He also returned in more detail to this appearance on stage during the concert on September 3, 2022 at Wembley in London, a tribute concert to Taylor Hawkinsdrummer foo fighters. Brian Johnson was then particularly nervous at the idea of returning to the stage, he explained to us:
“I was terrified. Dave Grohl kept telling me ‘come on, a few more songs and then it’s your turn’. I had never tested these hearing aids in live conditions, I had done it in Amsterdam before but in a environment under control, in a rehearsal room, here it was real, in front of 100,000 people (laughs). We hadn’t rehearsed much and I remember, I was watching the concert from the side of the stage. And then there’s Joe Walsh, one of my best friends, and I’m like, what the hell is he doing here? Walsh left the stage, I went to find him, we said hello and we hugged… And then Dave came to find me and said to me: “come on, it’s yours”. And I went on stage and I thought that no one would remember an old crouton like me, it had been a long time since I had been on a stage… And oh my God, the reception from the public was wonderful . I just jumped a little too much and ran around, after that I was a little out of breath (laughs) but, as a very sensitive person, it did me a lot of good to receive such a welcome.”
