AC/DC Reportedly Set To Release New Album, Tour With Brian Johnson In 2020

Over the last year or so, subtle rumors have begun to trickle in and out of industry ears of a possible return of AC/DC with their beloved singer Brian Johnson for a reunion tour in 2020. While exciting to think about, those rumors have come with zero proof or official confirmations, yet new reports from NME have shined more of a light on a potential tour and album featuring Johnson set for this year.

With the start of the new decade and the awful taste of the last tour now gone from the mouths of their fans, AC/DC may return with at least part of the lineup which made them household names in popular music since the 1970s. According to Australian radio host Eddie McGuire, AC/DC’s comeback album with Johnson could arrive in the coming months, with a tour of Australia set to follow come fall. There was no word included in the report as to whether the speculated 2020 tour of Australia would be related to the catastrophic wildfires which have destroyed much of the country’s terrain and wildlife.

“My mail is there will be a new album released by AC/DC [in] February/March this year, but also that AC/DC will be touring Australia October/November 2020,” McGuire recently told listeners during his Triple M Melbourne radio show. “After a lot of work and a lot of technical research, they have been able to get a hearing aid for Brian Johnson, who will be out front.”

McGuire continued, “They’ve had a few changes over the journey, but Angus out front, Brian Johnson lead singing, and maybe Phil Rudd, after his issues that he’s had in recent times.”

Johnson, as many fans know, was forced into early retirement in 2016 due to severe damage to his hearing after fronting one of the biggest (and loudest) rock bands on the planet for three-and-a-half decades. As a result, the band embarrassingly limped to the finish line of their 2015-2016 Rock or Bust World Tour without co-founder Malcolm Young and drummer Phil Rudd, an all-too-ready-to-retire bassist in Cliff Williams, and Axl Rose of all people as the replacement lead singer, leaving guitarist Angus Young to lead the band to a sad, and confusing end to one of the greatest success stories in the history of rock.

This isn’t the first time that fans and industry professionals have raised speculations of Johnson returning to his longtime band. It would make sense, however, for the surviving members of the famous band to deliver one more punch for their longtime fans after what was certainly a disappointing end to their last tour. Johnson was at least healthy enough to sit-in during a Bad Company performance in 2017.

While the band has yet to confirm any rumors going around regarding a reunion album and tour, there’s always the option of catching Guns N’ Roses‘ ongoing Not In This Lifetime…Tour to keep classic rock fans headbanging into the 2020s.

[H/T NME]