The Time Alice Cooper Considered Axl Rose Joining AC/DC As A Joke
Nobody could imagine that AC/DC would end up touring with none other than Guns N’ Roses lead singer Axl Rose after the Australian legends were left without a frontman during their Rock or Bust World Tour back in 2016. Unlike his reputation as a troublemaker in the rock music scene, Rose stepped in to save the day for the Aussie rockers.
When it was first announced that Rose would be performing with AC/DC, everybody had a different opinion regarding this unexpected combination. While the GN’R icon has one of the most praised vocals in the rock scene, fans of the band were used to seeing Brian Johnson since they concluded the Highway to Hell Tour on January 27, 1980.
Like everybody else, Alice Cooper himself had a hard time believing this announcement, as he once revealed during an interview. The rocker initially thought it was a prank on their fans for April Fools as the statement was issued in April. However, he was quick to change his mind after thinking it through.
Axl Rose Performed With AC/DC
During AC/DC’s Rock or Bust World Tour back in 2016, lead singer Brian Johnson was forced to stop touring by his doctors due to his worsening hearing problems. As a result, the long-time frontman had to take some time off in the middle of their extensive tour. The band had to recruit a new lead vocalist to stop their tour from being canceled.
To everybody’s surprise, they announced that Axl Rose would join them and perform as the lead singer for the remainder of their tour on April 16, 2016. Although rumor had it that Angus Young wanted to continue with Rose following their successful collaboration, AC/DC officially announced that Brian Johnson, Phil Rudd, and Cliff Williams would return to the band in 2018.
Alice Cooper Reflected On The Collaboration
During an interview with Rolling Stone two days after the announcement on April 18, 2016, Alice Cooper reflected on Axl Rose joining AC/DC for the rest of their Rock or Bust World Tour. Cooper admitted that the announcement sounded like a unique combination and everybody who had tickets had a golden ticket as they were going to witness something special.
In addition to praising the announcement at the beginning of his statement, the Godfather of Shock Rock also revealed that he initially thought it was an April Fools joke. Cooper later said it all made sense later since Rose has a fitting voice for the band’s sound.
According to Rolling Stone, Cooper said:
“I just think that’s such a unique combination. Whoever has tickets to that show has got the golden ticket, because who doesn’t want to see that?
At first, I thought it was an April Fool’s thing. I went, ‘Oh, come on!’ Then I started thinking about it and said, ‘You know, his voice is absolutely perfect for that band. That might just work.'”
You can watch Axl Rose performing with AC/DC below.