AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson joined FOO FIGHTERS on stage during the May 2 filming of Global Citizen‘s “Vax Live: The Concert To Reunite The World” at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California to perform the AC/DC classic “Back In Black”. Professionally filmed video footage of his appearance can be seen below.
“Vax Live: The Concert To Reunite The World” aired on Saturday, May 8 on ABC, ABC News Live, CBS, YouTube, iHeartMedia broadcast radio stations and the iHeartRadio app. With support from the World Health Organization (WHO), European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen, prime minister of Italy and G20 chair Mario Draghi, and president Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, prime minister of Norway Erna Solberg, prime minister of Spain Pedro Sanchez, and the State of California, the special, hosted by multi-platinum recording artist, actress and producer Selena Gomez, included a night of musical performances by Jennifer Lopez, Eddie Vedder, FOO FIGHTERS, J Balvin and H.E.R.
Two months ago, FOO FIGHTERS frontman Dave Grohl told “Anders Bøtters Tiny TV” about the first time he met AC/DC. He said: “I wasn’t performing at the Grammys; I was presenting an award or something. I’m lucky to say that Paul McCartney is a friend, and I love him very much. As much as he’s a hero of mine, he’s also a very sweet man and a friend. And so he was in town too. And he called and said, ‘What are you doing after the Grammys?’ I said, ‘I think maybe me and [FOO FIGHTERS bandmates] Pat and Taylor are just gonna have dinner.’ And he said, ‘Do you mind if me and Nancy [Paul‘s wife] come?’ I’m, like, ‘No. That’d be great.’ So then he bumps into AC/DC in a hotel or something. And then they say, ‘What are you doing after the show?’ And he says, ‘I’m gonna go have dinner with the FOO FIGHTERS.’ And Paul said, ‘Do you wanna come?’ So Paul‘s wife calls my wife, and then my wife says, ‘Hey, do you mind if AC/DC comes to dinner?’ And I had never met AC/DC.
“When I was maybe — I don’t know — 10 years old, I went to see that movie ‘Let There Be Rock’, the [AC/DC] live concert film, in a movie theater,” Dave continued. “This is before I was punk rock. That was the first time I saw a performance and heard music that made me wanna fucking break something. And still to this day, I use that as reference for how I like to play a show. I wanna be like AC/DC ‘Let There Be Rock’. That’s a live band.”
Circling back to the first time he met AC/DC, Dave concluded: “So then we had this beautiful night. And there was this jazz band. And it was one of the greatest nights of my entire life.”
After Malcolm Young died in November 2017, Grohl posted a touching tribute to AC/DC‘s founding rhythm guitarist on social media. He wrote: “37 years ago, my friend Larry Hinkle and I went to see a midnight movie on a Friday night at the Uptown Theater in Washington D.C. It was 1980. We were 11 years old. The movie was ‘Let There Be Rock’. And it changed my life.
“That film, a live AC/DC performance from Paris [in] 1979, is everything that live [rock] and roll should be. Sweaty. Loose. Loud. A relentless performance from the perfect band. It was the first time I lost control to music. The first time I wanted to be in a band. I didn’t want to play my guitar anymore, I wanted to smash it.
“Thank you, Malcolm, for the songs, and the feel, and the cool, and the years of losing control to your rock and roll.”
FOO FIGHTERS are continuing to promote their latest album, “Medicine At Midnight”, which recently landed at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart with first-week sales of 64,000 copies in the U.S.
FOO FIGHTERS previously topped the chart with 2017’s “Concrete And Gold” and 2011’s “Wasting Light”.
23,000 of “Medicine At Midnight”‘s first-week sales came from vinyl LP sales, with CDs and digital albums registering 20,000 each.
“Medicine At Midnight” came out in February via Roswell Records/RCA Records. The LP is a nine-song, 37-minute effort which was produced by the FOO FIGHTERS and Greg Kurstin.
