Phil Rudd

Phil Rudd

Rudd live with AC/DC in 1982 at the Manchester Apollo
Background information
Birth name Phillip Hugh Norman Witschke Rudzevecuis
Born (1954-05-19) 19 May 1954
Melbourne, Australia
Genres Hard rock, blues rock, rock and roll
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments
Years active 1972–1983, 1994–present
Associated acts Buster Brown
AC/DC
Website philruddmusic.com
Notable instruments
Slingerland Drums Sonor Drums
Paiste Cymbals

Phillip Hugh Norman Rudd (born Phillip Hugh Norman Witschke Rudzevecuis,[1] 19 May 1954) is a New Zealand-based Australian drummer, best known for his membership in Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1975 through 1983, and again from 1994 to 2015. Upon the 1977 departure of bass guitarist Mark Evans from AC/DC, Rudd became the only Australian-born member of the band. In 2003, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the other members of AC/DC. Due to ongoing legal problems in New Zealand, Rudd was unable to join the band for the 2015 Rock or Bust tour[2][3] and was replaced by Chris Slade.[4]

Biography

Born to Lithuanian parents on 19 May 1954, in Melbourne, Rudd began playing drums in his teens and became quite serious about pursuing a career in music.[5] He played in several bands in Melbourne before joining Buster Brown with future Rose Tattoo vocalist Angry Anderson.[6] They went on to release one album, Something To Say, in 1974, before Rudd left to join the Coloured Balls with Lobby Loyde.

In 1974 Rudd was told about AC/DC's rhythm section auditions by his former Coloured Balls bandmate Trevor Young (no relation to AC/DC's Young brothers). Rudd asked Buster Brown bassist Geordie Leach to accompany him to the auditions, but Leach refused due to other commitments. Rudd auditioned and was hired immediately.[7] Rudd's drumming style suited the band's style of music and became an integral part of AC/DC's sound from 1975 to 1983.[8] The band relocated to the United Kingdom in 1976 and followed a heavy schedule of international touring and recording.

Leaving AC/DC

In 1980, AC/DC's vocalist Bon Scott died. The band continued on, recruiting new vocalist Brian Johnson and subsequently recording their most successful album, 1980's Back in Black. Good friends, Rudd took Scott's death badly, but continued on with AC/DC until he left the band during the recording of the Flick of the Switch album in 1983. Rudd had completed his contributions to the album, and although session drummer B.J. Wilson was recruited to help complete the recording, Wilson's drum parts were ultimately not used. Simon Wright was soon hired as Rudd's permanent replacement, and featured in the videos that accompanied the singles released from the album.

Rudd's 1983 sacking from AC/DC was partly the result of his own personal problems as well as a conflict with the band's rhythm guitarist and founder Malcolm Young, which allegedly escalated to become physical. Following his firing, Rudd retired to Tauranga, New Zealand where he purchased a helicopter company.[9] Rudd's departure from AC/DC didn't become widely known until the eve of their North American tour in 1983. In the last few pages of Circus Magazine's October 1983 edition it stated "Phil Rudd exits AC/DC...to spend more time with his family and his cars". Guitarist Angus Young was quoted in the same article as saying "We're a rowdy bunch, but we don't fight with each other".[10] Vocalist Brian Johnson added in a Hit Parader interview from the same period that "You couldn't find a more solid person or drummer than Phil Rudd. None of us would have to work if we didn't want to....Phil chose that option".[11]

On his years away from AC/DC, Rudd has said, "I raced cars, flew helicopters, became a farmer and planted some crops. I lived in New Zealand which was great; nice and quiet with nobody bothering me." Rudd also continued to play drums, "when I wanted to rather than when I had to", and built his own recording studio.[9]

He married a New Zealand woman named Lisa O'Brien, with whom he has five children; the pair separated in 2006.[12][13]

Rejoining AC/DC

Rudd performing live with AC/DC in 1995
Phil Rudd with AC/DC on 23 November 2008 in St. Paul, Minnesota

When AC/DC toured New Zealand in 1991 in support of their Razors Edge album, they called Rudd to see if he would be interested in joining them for a casual jam session. Rudd accepted their offer. Though there was no discussion of him rejoining the group at the time, Rudd would be invited to permanently rejoin AC/DC in late 1993 following the recording of the Big Gun single for the Last Action Hero movie soundtrack.[5]

AC/DC welcomed Rudd back following Chris Slade's term as the band's drummer. The band praised Slade for his performance and technical ability, but maintained that a certain groove had been missing from AC/DC's music since Rudd's departure in 1983. Since rejoining the band, he has performed on four AC/DC studio albums, Ballbreaker, Stiff Upper Lip, Black Ice, and Rock or Bust, with Black Ice being the band's biggest hit on the charts since For Those About to Rock We Salute You in 1981.

Solo album

Rudd's first solo album, Head Job, was released on 29 August 2014. New Zealand musicians Allan Badger (bass guitar and vocals) and Geoffrey Martin (guitar) performed on the album alongside Rudd.[14]

Recent events

Drug conviction and appeal

On 1 December 2010, Rudd was convicted of possessing 25g of marijuana on his boat in Tauranga, New Zealand,[15] but later had his cannabis conviction quashed on the grounds that it would have stopped him from continuing to tour with AC/DC.[16]

Restaurant

On 30 July 2011, it was announced that the drummer had purchased and would open a marina restaurant at Bridge Marina in Tauranga, where he resides. He named it "Phil's Place", and planned on selling seafood and top-quality steak.[17] The restaurant closed temporarily in July 2012, and reopened on 10 April 2013.[18] In 2014 Rudd was ordered to pay more than $70,000 to three former employees for unjustified dismissal.[19]

Threatening to kill and drug charges

On 6 November 2014 Rudd was arrested and charged with attempting to procure a murder, threatening to kill, possession of methamphetamine and possession of cannabis, following a police raid on his home.[20][21] The charge of attempting to procure a murder was withdrawn the following day.[22] On 21 April 2015 he pleaded guilty to the remaining charges, with the exception of one of the two threatening to kill charges, which was dropped.[23]

His ongoing legal problems led to the recruitment of AC/DC's former drummer Chris Slade in time for the band's Rock or Bust World Tour.[3] In an interview on 13 November 2014, Angus Young had stated that AC/DC had experienced problems with Rudd earlier in the year when recording Rock or Bust, and that his situation had taken the band by surprise. Rudd had also missed video and photo shoots. Young said, "He's got to sort himself out I think... At this point it's kind of a question mark. But if we're touring, there will be a drummer in place, put it that way."[24] In the same interview, Young also said, "Phil created his own situation. 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."[25] In May 2015, Rudd stated that he hoped to return but claimed to have had no contact from the band, adding, "I'm sure they're having a great old time... I've seen the error of my ways... It's onward and upward from here."[26]

On 9 July 2015, Rudd was sentenced to eight months' home detention and ordered to pay NZ$120,000 in reparation. His appeal to be discharged without conviction was rejected.[27][28][29] A subsequent appeal of the sentence to the High Court was dismissed.[27][30] In a 2016 interview, Rudd said he was seeing a psychiatrist weekly and had given up the "crazy shit". He also revealed he planned to tour Europe to promote his album "Head Job".[31]

Head Job European tour 2017

Phil Rudd has signed an international deal with Alan "Big Al" Bellman and Simon Britton of Wave 365 Media, and will tour Europe in 2017.[32] Joining Rudd, Badger and Martin for the tour will be British bass guitarist John Proctor and New Zealand guitarist Mike "Mutt" Furness. The band's name is yet to be announced.[33] The tour will start in Oslo, Norway on 31 March, and will visit Sweden, the UK, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. More dates are yet to be confirmed.[34]

Equipment

In the past, Phil Rudd used Slingerland drums. He became an endorser of Sonor in 1977. Rudd uses Sonor drums, Paiste cymbals, Evans Drumheads, and Easton Ahead drumsticks.

Tour kit (2008–2010)

On their earlier albums, notably Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Rudd occasionally used a ride cymbal, but quit using one later in his career.

His Back in Black Touring kit:

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ "Bio at everydrummer.com". Everydrummer.com. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  2. ↑ "The Band, The Official AC/DC Website". ACDC.com. Sony Music Entertainment. 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  3. 1 2 Reed, Ryan (11 February 2015). "AC/DC Announce North American 'Rock or Bust' Tour". RollingStone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  4. ↑ "AC/DC confirm Chris Slade will replace Phil Rudd on their 2015 tour". The Guardian. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  5. 1 2 Eduardo Rivadavia. "Phil Rudd". AllMusic.
  6. ↑ Holmgren, Magnus. "Buster Brown". Australian Rock Database. Magnus Holmgren. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  7. ↑ Engleheart, Murray AC/DC – Maximum Rock N Roll 2003 ISBN 0-7322-8383-3
  8. ↑ McFarlane, Ian (1999) Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop 'AC/DC' entry at the Wayback Machine (archived 6 August 2004). Archived from the original on 6 August 2004. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  9. 1 2 "Metal Hammer & Classic Rock present AC/DC", Metal Hammer magazine special, 2005
  10. ↑ Circus, Oct. 1983
  11. ↑ Hit Parader, Nov. 1983
  12. ↑ Savage, Jared (22 April 2015). "Inside the world of AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd". NZ Herald. BOP Times. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  13. ↑ "Phil Rudd's son: 'Dad's a good guy'". NZ Herald. NZ Herald. 10 Nov 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  14. ↑ "AC/DC drummer goes solo". Triple M Rock Radio. 16 July 2014.
  15. ↑ "AC/DC drummer convicted of drug possession – National – NZ Herald News". Nzherald.co.nz. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  16. ↑ "AC/DC drummer's appeal succeeds – National – NZ Herald News". Nzherald.co.nz. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  17. ↑ Graham Skellern (30 July 2011). "AC/DC star buys marina restaurant | Bay of Plenty News | Local News in Bay of Plenty". Bayofplentytimes.co.nz. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  18. ↑ "AC/DC rocker's restaurant reopens". SunLive. 10 April 2013.
  19. ↑ "AC/DC drummer ordered to pay Tauranga staff". TVNZ.
  20. ↑ Tony Wall (6 November 2014). "AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd on procuring murder charge". Fairfax Media.
  21. ↑ "AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd on New Zealand murder plot charge - BBC News". Bbc.com. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
  22. ↑ Katie Kenny (7 November 2014). "AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd: Procuring murder charge dropped". Fairfax Media.
  23. ↑ "AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd angry over solo flop". Stuff.co.nz. 2015-04-21. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
  24. ↑ "AC/DC 'had issues' with drummer Phil Rudd". BBC. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  25. ↑ "AC/DC's Angus Young would be 'aghast' at Phil Rudd". The Age. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  26. ↑ "Former AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd breaks his silence". 9news. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  27. 1 2 Rudd v R, 2015 NZHC 2399 (2 October 2015).
  28. ↑ Shedden, Iain (9 July 2015). "AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd sentenced to home detention for drugs, kill threats". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  29. ↑ "AC/DC Drummer Phil Rudd Sentenced to Eight Months of Home Detention". loudwire. loudwire. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  30. ↑ "Phil Rudd loses appeal against conviction". Radio New Zealand. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  31. ↑ Annemarie Quill,Phil Rudd: 'I've stopped all the crazy stuff', Bay of Plenty Times, 14 May, 2016
  32. ↑ "AC/DC's Phil Rudd: I don't really rate Axl Rose". Annemarie Quill. 31 Aug 2016.
  33. ↑ "AC/DC's Phil Rudd creates own band". Bay of Plenty Times. 3 December 2016.
  34. ↑ "Head Job European Tour". Phil Rudd Music. 4 December 2016.
  35. 1 2 "What kit does Phil Rudd (AC/DC) play on the "Black Ice" Tour?, SONOR Website, 19 February 2009". Sonor.com. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  36. ↑ "Phil Rudd's Artist Profile, Paiste Website". Paiste.com. 8 February 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
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