AC/DC new album and tour rumors have circulated in recent months, coming to a fever pitch recently when Eddie Trunk said he heard the band would release a new album and tour, and an engineer confirmed the band were recording again with Brian Johnson. The rumored new album will be a tribute to Malcolm Young, featuring songs he co-wrote before his death. Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose frontman AC/DC in 2016 after Brian Johnson left the ‘Rock or Bust’ tour due to hearing issues.
Brian Johnson has broken his silence in his first interview since the 2019 rumors with EdiblesArasota, and while he didn’t address AC/DC rumors (much like when Eddie Van Halen did a Golf magazine interview earlier this year, Johnson seems to be in great health and spirits.
Our sunny, surfside city has been attracting outsiders for ages, so it’s no surprise when anyone with eyeballs wants to move here and make Sarasota the backdrop of his life. But, it’s all the more exciting when we reel in a big catch like Brian Johnson, who says Sarasota “just feels like home.” It made the most sense to talk turkey with Brian at Darwin Evolutionary Cuisine, the brick-and-mortar restaurant of his long-time favorite local chef, Darwin Santa Maria, who burst onto the food scene over a decade ago with a bold Peruvian fusion flair that captured the attention of many a Sarasota food lover.
Brian remembers the very first time he had Darwin’s Tuna Tiradito, a culinary rebellion when it debuted, of thinly sliced rare tuna “cooked” in vibrant citrus juice paired with sweet watermelon cubes that “kisses the back of your throat, kisses your tonsils,” as Brian says. That meal became the appetizer to what would eventually become a beautiful relationship between the Johnsons and the Santa Marias built on friendship, humor, and food, glorious food. Now, years later, wherever Darwin is cooking is wherever Brian and his wife, Brenda, are eating, whether it be at the restaurant or a backyard barbecue. Darwin’s wife, Lellys, joined us to discuss her husband’s passion for cooking and why this particular friendship means so much.
So, what was his favorite food as a kid? “There was no diversity where I grew up,” says Brian. “It was after the war. The food was bland. It had to be—ration books didn’t let you get creative. Ma, being Italian, made our own pasta and she’d make these small donuts. They were so simple, she just tossed them in sugar. But the smell that went out of the house would bring all the neighbors around. All my friends would knock and ask ‘Bri, is your mom makin’ the donuts?’” he says nostalgically. “That flavor and her fresh pasta,” he sighs. “Everyone tries to overdo the simple things. It doesn’t need it.”
Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash discussed Brian Johnson, Cliff Williams, and Phil Rudd’s apparent AC/DC returns in a new Consequence of Sound interview.
“Where do I start? AC/DC is bar none, with the exception of the [Rolling] Stones, the greatest rock ‘n’ roll band ever. The Stones will always come first for me and then AC/DC. There are no other bands that actually play that brand of really ’50s-influenced straight-up rock ‘n’ roll like AC/DC. I love them for that. I think Phil Rudd is one of the best drummers of all time. So anytime he was not in the band, I was always disappointed. But it’s great that Cliff [Williams is] going to be back because I remember being backstage with those guys at the end of the last tour and him saying that he was gone and that he was retired. So it’s great that everybody’s back, but it’s especially awesome that Brian [Johnson] is back.”
