Brian Johnson and Phil Rudd spotted with longtime AC/DC engineer and mixer Mike Fraser

(Image credit: Getty)

Last week, estranged AC/DC members Brian Johnson and Phil Rudd were photographed together (opens in new tab) outside Vancouver’s Warehouse Studios.

AC/DC have recorded their last three albums at the location, and, the following day, guitarists Stevie and Angus Young were spotted at the same location, sparking rumours that AC/DC could be recording a new album.

Now, Crystal Lambert and her friend Glenn Slavens – who grabbed the previous two shots – have shared a photograph of vocalist Johnston and drummer Rudd hanging out with longtime AC/DC engineer and mixer Mike Fraser on the Ear Of Newt website (opens in new tab).

Fraser’s been behind the desk on the band’s last five studio albums: 1990’s The Razor’s Edge, 1995’s Ballbreaker, 2000’s Stiff Upper Lip, 2008’s Black Ice and 2014’s Rock Or Bust.

Fraser has worked with dozens of other artists throughout his career, including Guns N’ Roses, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Rush, Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Poison, The Cult and Thunder.

Johnson was forced to stop touring with AC/DC in 2016 under the threat of permanent deafness, with the band famously bringing in Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose to complete their Rock Or Bust world tour.

However, Johnson has since worked with audio experts Asius on a solution to his hearing problems, with Beano taking to the stage following his departure from AC/DC with MusePaul Rodgers and, most recently, with Mick Fleetwood.

Rudd, meanwhile, was kicked out of the Aussie outfit the same year after being found guilty of drugs possession and making death threats and subsequently served an eight-month home arrest sentence. Drummer Chris Slade was recruited for AC/DC’s live dates.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.