Phil Rudd may not make AC/DC tour following his arrest

Posted on 27 November 2014
By Carlton Whitfield
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AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd’s recent run-ins with the law have led his bandmates to hint that he may not be rejoining the band for their upcoming Rock or Bust tour. AC/DC tour and tickets
have already been announced for next year and the Band has indicated they will perform without Rudd if need be, though it was Rudd who played drums for the Rock or Bust album.

On a recent radio interview with US host Howard Stern, Brian Johnson and Angus Young gave some insight into the drummer’s questionable status with the band. Young told Stern he fell out of bed when he heard the news that Rudd had been charged with hiring someone to commit murder.

Young told Stern that his wife woke him up and told him that “Phil’s been up to no good,” and that Rudd had been trying to have his drug dealer killed. Johnson said that he was getting to fly back to the US when he saw the news about Rudd’s arrest on TV, describing the scene of a man being led out of his car without his shoes on, “looking like he was drugged” and that it appeared “his head was on backwards.”

New Zealand police had initially charged Rudd with trying to hire a hit man to kill two people, but they have since dropped that charge. Phil Rudd, who has been playing drums off and on for AC/DC for almost 30 years, still had to show up for court to face the remaining charges for threatening to kill as well as possession of marijuana and methamphetamine.

The critical question in the interview came when Stern asked Young and Johnson whether Rudd was still in the band.

Young replied that “we’ve got to resolve that,” while Johnson hinted Rudd would not be coming back. Johnson said that he did not think they would need to fire him, and that the situation would take care of himself.

Johnson went on to explain that Rudd had got himself “into a pickle,” and there wasn’t anything the band could do about the situation. Criminal charges, judges, and juries were not something they could influence.

Nevertheless Johnson emphasised that AC/DC would still be going on tour — nothing was going to stop them. If Rudd is not available, the band will not break up. Young noted that they have had other good drummers who worked with them in the past.

Rudd’s remarkable court appearance

Phil Rudd’s New Zealand’s court appearance to answer charges of drug possession and threatening to kill was not the low-key appearance that his lawyers may have been hoping for.

The 60-year-old drummer turned up for the court late, which led Justice Timothy Brewer to put out a warrant for Rudd’s arrest. As he was leaving the court Rudd jumped on the back of the security guard and gave photographers the finger. Finally, as he was leaving the drummer reversed his car right into the way of an oncoming lorry, that was forced to make a panic stop to avoid the collision.

Rudd was due at New Zealand’s Tauranga High Court on Wednesday at 9am, but he was not there when the hearing started. The judge therefore issued a warrant for Rudd’s arrest which would have come into effect if Rudd hadn’t arrived within the following 30 minutes.