Lisbon, Portugal — It’s no secret that rock band AC/DC botched the recent departure of former singer Brian Johnson with a glib announcement on their website that he would no longer be apart of the band due to a “hearing loss.” Of course this didn’t seem to be the case as the estranged singer immediately released a statement saying his hearing was fine. So obviously there was strife and acrimony building between Mr. Johnson and the rest of the band.
What was even more surprising, and some would say shocking, is that the band announced that former (and current) Guns N’ Roses front-man Axl Rose would be taking over the helm in place of Johnson. No one was sure how that would work. No one was sure if it would work. Would Axl be up for the task? Would he and the rest of AC/DC be able to work together?
Well it appears that the band came up with what seemed to be a sensible solution for controlling Mr. Rose: they strapped him to a chair.
“We were worried about Axl taking over everything,” said lead guitar player Angus Young following a successful show in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday. “We tried everything to get him to settle down. Then Chris [Chris Slade, AC/DC’s drummer] suggested that we strap him to a chair. And if that didn’t work perfectly.”
According to stage hands back stage, Mr. Rose was not aware of the plot to restrain him to a chair until moments before the show began on Saturday night. [continued below]
“We were backstage having a laugh, and then three roadies came up and grabbed me,” said Axl Rose in a post-concert interview. “I was like ‘what the fuck is going on assholes’ and then they strapped me into a chair and wheeled me out on stage. There was nothing I could do, so I just went with. It worked.”
It’s unclear if future dates will use this technique to focus Mr. Rose.
