Looks as though former AC/DC fill-in drummer Chris Slade might’ve got the sack without any warning.
In an interview with Rolling Stone back in August, Chris Slade — who filled in for the band during their 2016 Rock or Bust tour — revealed that as far as he was aware, he was still the drummer for the mighty Acca Dacca.
“To my absolute knowledge, and this is me being absolutely honest, I am the current drummer in AC/DC,” he shared at the time. “It may sound deluded to some people. I’ve said that before in interviews and people have gone, ‘The man is deluded. He’s lost it. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.’”
“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,’” he continued. “Nobody has ever said that. As far as I’m concerned …God, I’m philosophical enough to realize that Phil may well be back in the band. I have no idea. I had no idea last time when they called me before ‘Rock Or Bust’. I’m open to all possibilities. That’s the way people should be, open-minded.”
When AC/DC confirmed last month that they were reuniting for another album with the lineup of bassist Cliff Williams, frontman Brian Johnson and drummer Phil Rudd, and guitarists Stevie and Angus Young. it was made glaringly obvious that Slade had been relieved of his drumming duties.
During a recent interview with Loudwire Nights, vocalist Brian Johnson was asked what happened with the whole palaver.
“I don’t know, that’s the first I’ve heard of this,” Johnson revealed. “I would have imagined Chris would have known that — Chris stood in for Phil very admirably, did a great job, but as you know, Phil got himself into some trouble, but he’s AC/DC’s drummer, really, always has been.”
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Rudd has been the longstanding AC/DC drummer since 1975, cutting his teeth on most of the bands most beloved albums. He was replaced by Slade after pleading guilty to drug charges and threatening to kill a former assistant.
Power Up, the seventeenth AC/DC studio album, will be out on Friday 13 November.
Check out ‘Shot In The Dark’ by AC/DC:
