Axl Rose Was ‘So Nervous’ Before AC/DC Audition in 2016

Axl Rose is one of rock's most confident frontmen of all time. However, his audition with AC/DC in 2016 is one instance where his trademark cool was seemingly a bit lost.

Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan touched on Rose's audition with the iconic band in an appearance on the Life in the Stocks podcast (h/t Loudwire). McKagan talked about Rose was sort of out of his element, since he had mostly fronted GN'R during his career. This was unlike McKagan and Slash, who had more experience venturing outside of Guns N' Roses.

The bassist said, "That AC/DC thing was really was like his favorite band, he went and tried out. [Rose said] 'I'm gonna try, I hope they...'. I'm like, 'You're not gonna need to try out. I wouldn't worry about it.' [Rose then said] 'I'm so nervous."

By this time, McKagan and Slash had rejoined GN'R, and both of them knew they would get the AC/DC gig. The stretch of dates where Rose fronted AC/DC certainly brought some freshness to the band, particularly to the setlist. Rose helped add some deeper AC/DC cuts to the setlist. Among them were "Dog Eat Dog," "Riff Raff," "Touch Too Much," "Rock 'n' Roll Damnation" and "If You Want Blood (You Got It)."

Johnson, of course, was forced to step away from AC/DC in 2016 due to issues related to hearing loss. He rejoined the band in 2020 for their album Power Up, which served as a tribute to late guitarist Malcolm Young. The singer was able to rejoin the band thanks to newly developed in-ear monitor technology.

So, what did he have to say about Rose fronting AC/DC? In November 2020, he told Ultimate Classic Rock, "He jumped into a tough, tough vocalist gig ... And for him to do that at such short notice was pretty fantastic. I’ve got a lot of respect for what he did, you know."

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.