Brian Johnson Statue Unveiled in City Where He Played His First AC/DC Gig

Brian Johnson played his first show with AC/DC on June 29, 1980 in Namur, Belgium. To honor the historic moment, the city unveiled a statue of the singer.

According to Belgium's public FM station Classic 21, the statue is located near Namur Expo, which is the site of the former Exhibition Centre where Johnson first performed with AC/DC. They noted in an Instagram post, 458 donors helped fund the statue.

Johnson was not on hand for the unveiling of the statue, but he did send the video message below. The singer says, in part, "[Namur] is a very special place for me. It was the first night I sang with AC/DC, and I was a very nervous boy ... Now that you've built this statue -- honestly, I'm not worthy of it -- but thank you! It's taken in good grace. I'll never forget what you've done for me.

Johnson is set to be active with AC/DC later this year. The iconic band was announced as one of six bands performing at Power Trip. The event is taking place on October 6-8 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif., which is the site of Coachella. Joining AC/DC on the bill are Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica and Tool.

The AC/DC catalog can be split into two parts: The Bon Scott years and the Brian Johnson years. For the sake of our latest list, we're going to focus on the Brian Johnson years.

Johnson was officially announced as the new singer for AC/DC on April 15, 1980. Back then, he faced the daunting challenge of following Scott, who had died suddenly in February 1980 just as AC/DC was enjoying international success from their latest album, Highway to Hell.

Not only did Johnson rise to the occasion, but he also helped lead AC/DC with the release of their monster hit Back In Black, which is one of the highest-selling albums of all time moving over 50 million copies worldwide and 25 million copies in the United States alone.

Over the course of the past four decades, Johnson has become one of rock's most iconic and easily recognizable voices ever. His official return to AC/DC in 2020 after a nearly four-year absence due to hearing loss issues was one of the bright spots in an unprecedentedly dark year.

In his honor, here's our ranking of the top 25 Brian Johnson AC/DC songs.

AC/DC announced in February their new European tour dates. This marks the first tour from the band since 2016.

The "Power Up" tour will kick off on May 17 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany and will wrap on August 17 in Dublin. Currently, it's unknown whether AC/DC will expand their tour to other continents, but stay tuned.

In a brief statement from the band, they confirmed the lineup for the tour. Brian Johnson will be on vocals and joined by Angus and Stevie Young on lead and rhythm guitar, respectively. Matt Laug, who played with the band at Power Trip in October 2023, will be on drums.

As for bass, AC/DC has recruited Chris Chaney "to carry the torch for Cliff [Williams]." Williams retired shortly after the 2016 tour, but he appeared on AC/DC's 2020 album Power Up. Williams also performed at Power Trip with the band.