During a recent appearance on “Let There Be Talk” podcast, AC/DC bassist Cliff Williams talked about his decision to return for the making of band’s upcoming album, Power Up.
Last month, Aussie rockers have released the first official photo of its reunited lineup, featuring singer Brian Johnson alongside drummer Phil Rudd, bassist Cliff Williams and guitarists Angus and Stevie Young.
When asked if Johnson‘s departure from the road during 2015-2016 Rock Or Bust tour was what led to his desire to stop touring, Cliff responded: “It was before then. I spoke to Angus about it initially. I was at a point — and this is at the beginning of the Rock Or Bust tour — that I just felt, for me, it was time to hang it up.
“I knew that I didn’t wanna keep doing these two-year tours, and I didn’t wanna hold them back, so I made them aware of the fact that this was gonna be my last go-round. It was a tough tour to finish. God bless Axl [Rose] for coming in and helping us out, finish it up. He did a great job. And at the end of that, I was definitely — that was it for me. Done — just done. That compounded the whole thing.”
Williams also said that he wanted to take part in the recording sessions for Power Up as a tribute to Angus‘s late brother, founding AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young, who died in 2017 from effects of dementia at age 64.
“If Back In Black has [late AC/DC singer] Bon Scott all over it, for me, Power Up has got Malcolm Young. This is for him. And it’s the band that we played together with for 40-plus years. And I wanted to do that — I wanted to come back and do that.
“We did some rehearsals earlier this year before this darn COVID thing popped up, and we had great rehearsals,” Williams continued. “The band was playing really well. So [they asked me], ‘Do you wanna do a few shows? ‘Sure’. A few shows. We were planning on doing that. Everyone goes home to their respective homes, and bang, we’ve been here ever since [because of the coronavirus-related shutdown].”
AC/DC will release its long-awaited new studio album, Power Up, on November 13.
