Brian Johnson says "it's so obvious now that something happened" at Malcolm Young's funeral in 2017 to spark AC/DC's comeback.
Several of the members of AC/DC have revealed that gathering together at co-founder Malcolm Young's funeral in 2017 was ultimately how they came to reunite as a band.
Speaking with David Fricke (via Louder), Angus Young explains that seeing other members of the group for the first time in three years at his late brother's funeral in Sydney, Australia rekindled their relationships, and simply talking together as friends at the private service set their entire comeback in motion – not that they necessarily knew it at the time.
"After Malcolm passed away, Brian [Johnson, vocals] and Cliff [Williams, bass] came to the funeral," he recalls. "Phil [Rudd, drums] and Stevie [Young, guitar] had come in. I was glad to see Phil. He looked good, keeping up his health. He was the best I'd ever seen him."
Read this: AC/DC: 10 great Malcolm Young moments
The drummer says that he and Angus "had a good chat", adding that he was "mindful of what the band had been doing". Brian, meanwhile, calls the whole thing "a lovely day", revealing, "The band members sat together and talked. I'm not a religious or spiritual kind of person, but it's so obvious now that something happened."
Of course, Angus has called AC/DC's new comeback album POWER UP a tribute to the late, great Malcolm, stating that, "I know Mal’s not with us anymore, but he’s there with us in spirit. This band was his baby, his life. He was always one [to say], ‘You keep going.’ His big line always, every now and again, he’d go, ‘If you’re a musician, it’s a bit like being on the Titanic. The band goes down with the ship.’ That’s how he viewed it."
Malcolm is credited as a writer on every track on the new record, and Angus reveals that he actually inspired the title, too.
"Even the title we gave it, POWER UP, pretty much sums him up," he says. "When he put on that guitar, he was one big guitar. To put it this way: When he played guitar, it sounded like there were two people playing."
