Phil Rudd says he will be involved in future AC/DC tours, despite having no contact with the band which made him famous in the wake of the drummer’s ongoing legal dramas.
Speaking with Nine’s A Current Affair, the embattled drummer confessed that his attempts to get in contact with his former Acca Dacca bandmates have, so far, been unsuccessful.
“I wrote them a letter, I tried to get in contact with Angus (Young),” he said. “I’ve had no contact with anybody. I’m very disappointed… But, you know, that’s life.”
The 60-year-old told A Current Affair that he wishes he were touring, and he says he could have made it too, if he’d been asked.
“I was surprised the guys didn’t contact [me]”, he said, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s not up to me, it’s up to Angus [Young]. That’s his call.”
But Rudd also believes that the cold shoulder won’t last long. Despite staring down the barrel of a seven month jail sentence after pleading guilty to charges of threatening to kill a former employee, Rudd remains confident that he will soon regain his rightful place as the band’s human metronome.
“We’re hoping that it’s discharged without conviction. I’m not sure if that will work or not but life is what it is and you make your own mistakes. We all make mistakes,” Rudd told ACA.
“I’ve seen the error of my ways and it’s onward and upward from here.”
“We all know that I make a difference.”
“There’ll be another tour and another and I’ll be on it. It’ll go until we all die. We’ll probably all have to be dead before it stops.”
While his former band are off touring the world, Rudd remains in New Zealand on bail. He was arrested there last year on charges relating to drug possession, threatening to kill and murder-for-hire, the latter of which was dropped soon after the arrest.
AC/DC have replaced Rudd with a former drummer, Chris Slade, who will be performing alongside the rock legends when their Rock Or Bust world tour comes down under this November.
“I’m sure they’re having a great old time,” Rudd said. “I’m sure they’re really enjoying playing. I’m sure it really sounds great.”
Young has previously spoken publicly about Rudd’s arrest. “Phil created his own situation,” he said back in November last year.
“It’s a hard thing to say about the guy. He’s a great drummer, and he’s done a lot of stuff for us. But he seems to have let himself go. He’s not the Phil we’ve known from the past.”
Rudd is due to front a sentencing hearing on 26th June.
Watch: Phil Rudd Interview: A Current Affair
