AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson stepped down from the band in 2016 after suffering from hearing loss. Guns N' Roses vocalist Axl Rose stepped in to finish the remainder of the tour dates, and shortly after that rumors of an album with Rose began circulating. Johnson ended up rejoining the band in 2018 and AC/DC released their new album Power Up in 2020.
So was a Rose-fronted AC/DC album ever in the cards? According to guitarist Angus Young in an interview with Rock Antenne, not really. Young said it "never really came as a point in question" and that Rose was only there to help out.
"He had actually volunteered, because — I'll be honest — at the time, we didn't really know what we would do in that situation. And he, very early, had volunteered. He said if he can help out — he had his own commitments to do — and he said if it didn't interfere with what he was doing, he would gladly, if he can help, he would be involved. So it was a case of that.
"We didn't know if it would come together, so we did a little bit of rehearsing with him. And it worked out. He broke his foot when he had been working with his own project, but he certainly gave it his all to get through. So that was very good of him. I've got a lot of respect. And how he did it — he was very pro. And he was very hungry. He's very much a fan of especially a lot of our earlier stuff with Bon [Scott]. So he was excited to be doing it. As a band, I'll always be grateful to him for that."
It should also be noted that bassist Cliff Williams retired briefly after the 2016 tour, and Phil Rudd was out of the band after being charged with attempting to procure a murder, threatening to kill, possession of methamphetamine and possession of cannabis in 2014. Both rejoined in 2018.
